


Wrong Number at the Right Time

by Januarium



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Patrick/Rachel, Banter, Break Up, Broken Engagement, Co-workers, Coming Out, Flirting, Gay Awakening, High Patrick Brewer, Long-Distance Friendship, M/M, Phone Calls & Telephones, Queer awakening, Recreational Drug Use, Sexual Identity, Slow Burn, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:09:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 45,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25785661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Januarium/pseuds/Januarium
Summary: David Rose makes a call for small business support and ends up with so much more. Patrick Brewer is feeling stuck and frustrated with his life and an opportunity turns up just when he needs it. An exploration of how sometimes it’s easy to get close to someone, even when they’re far away.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 461
Kudos: 556





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is complete, with editing almost completely finished. I will be posting chapters on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays. The total story is around 44k. Please let me know if there are any problems with the formating; I tried to make sure it should work with the style off and on different devices.
> 
> Huge thanks to ReginaHalliwell and RhetoricalQuestions for beta-work, to DelilahMcMuffin for business and Canada help, to Lokifan for letting me talk to her about this endlessly, and to all the Rosebuddies who are the reason why I've written 100k of Schitt's Creek fic in 2 months. This is the longest thing I've ever successfully finished, so it is very nerve-wracking!
> 
> The fic is not nearly as heavy as it might be, but yes, there's gonna be some tough parts. I promise there are a lot more dumb jokes than serious bits, though. And mind that slow burn tag, I really mean it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which David makes a phone call and Patrick answers it.

“Hello, Patrick Brewer speaking.”

“Um, hi,” David responds, pissed off that he’s already somehow wrong-footed by the professional way this guy answered the phone. “I’m calling about the small support—small business support, I mean! Um, hi, I’m David Rose. I was told you can help me?”

“Help you with… small business support?” The guy, Patrick, sounds amused by David’s awkward start and _god_ , is nothing going to go right today? He’s already had Ray cancel their appointment last minute, giving no help except a copy of the form and a hastily written phone number for ‘small business support.’

“Yes, exactly. I’m leasing the general store and I need to apply for a business license.” David’s determined to get through this.

“The general store?” Patrick sounds a bit confused now, which is just _ridiculous_ because it’s a pretty clear statement.

“Yes, the Schitt’s Creek general store on Main Street. They went bust and Christmas World decided they didn’t want it after all, lucky me! Ray gave me the form and said you’d help?”

Patrick has a nice laugh. “Congratulations.” There’s a sound of typing in the background and David desperately hopes he’s not writing this down, nothing he’s said yet is ready for the form. “So you are David Rose and you’re leasing the general store in Schitt’s Creek.”

“That’s right,” David says, slightly frustrated to have to repeat this basic information so much.

There’s a bit more typing and then, “Why don’t we start with the name of your business?”

The phone call goes rapidly downhill from there.

Stevie is annoyingly insightful when he tries to rant at her about how Patrick had told him he was going to be a failure. David doesn’t _want_ to think that maybe he had actually just been using a bunch of buzzwords and Patrick was _trying_ to help, but Stevie’s probably right.

He will call Patrick back and explain his well thought out plan properly, but first he and Stevie share a disgusting joint she found under the bed in one of the motel rooms. Being more relaxed will probably help, anyway.

***

David winces when he wakes up to an incoming call the next morning. Who the hell makes a call before nine am? If he were more awake he’d probably realise he could just ignore it, but sadly he’s just half-asleep enough to answer on auto-pilot. “H’lo?”

“Hi, is that David? Or should I say Patrick?” He sounds so fucking pleased with himself. Who is that pleased with themself at the ass-crack of dawn?

The previous afternoon floods back into David’s memory in far too much detail. “I take it you got my voicemails,” he says, desperately glad that Alexis has decided that she’s a morning person this week and is already in the shower.

“Yup!”

“And just listened to the first one and deleted the rest?”

“Nope!”

David groans and buries his head in the pillow as he listens to Patrick talk about playing them at a birthday party which, thank god, is just more awful teasing from him.

“Why exactly are you calling me at this god-forsaken hour of the day? I messed up my form anyway, I need to get a new one from Ray.”

“David, it’s nearly nine. And there’s no need for a new form.”

David closes his eyes and counts to five before replying. “I really don’t care about your opinion, but I’ll have you know that telling someone they shouldn’t even _bother_ with their business, after just a few ill-advised voicemails, is _not_ a good way to support a small business!”

“Whoa, no, no, David! I’m sorry, that’s not what I mean at all.”

“It isn’t?” David feels like this conversation would be a lot easier to follow if it was taking place in person and at a decent hour.

“What I meant was, the good thing about your messages is that I could piece together what your business plan actually is, and I think it’s a good idea. Rebranding local products and crafts, very inventive.”

David unearths himself from the pillows. “Oh, thanks.”

“And I like the name, ‘Rose Apothecary’, it’s just pretentious enough.”

“Would we call that pretentious, or timeless?” David doesn’t know whether to be smug or annoyed about the laugh that generates. “Anyway, if it’s a good idea, why don’t I need a new form?”

“Give me your email address.”

David is pretty sure he hasn’t used email to communicate with another person in a decade, but he complies and opens the app. There, within a few seconds, is an email from “Patrick Brewer <p.brewer1987@mail.com>”. Attached is the form David has spent the past day agonising over, all filled out.

“Oh.” It is far too early to deal with some stranger doing something so nice for him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I really do think it’s a good business idea and I’m happy to help if you need anything else.”

“Really?”

“Sure, just give me a call or, you know… leave a message.”

***

David is trying to convince Alexis to actually _help_ with the store set up instead of just using up all of his product when his phone buzzes with a message. He expects it to be Stevie because she is, however depressingly, the only person who ever texts him.

It isn’t. David blinks with confusion before thinking to check it against his recent call history and yup, this is Small Business Guy.

**iMessage:** 613-555-0189  
  
**Wed 28 Apr** 11:12AM **613-555-0189:** So what sort of products are you stocking?   
  
**David:** You put it on the forms, it’s local products and crafts.  
  


“Ooh David, who are you texting?” Alexis asks, because he hasn’t given her attention for thirty seconds.

“Just some business support guy Ray gave me the number for.” He says, attempting to distract himself from wondering if he’ll get a response.

“Is he attractive?” Alexis says, practically bouncing with excitement at the prospect.

“I have literally no idea Alexis, I only spoke to him on the phone. He’s probably in his fifties anyway.” Except his email address says ‘1987’, so he’s almost certainly actually younger than David. Not that it matters.

“Ooh, but maybe he’s like a silver fox with lots of sexy business knowledge!” Alexis says, making an awkward motion with her hands David is pretty sure is supposed to represent the claws of some sort of jungle cat.

David rolls his eyes while checking the new message that just came in.

**iMessage:** 613-555-0189  
  
**Mon 3 May** 11:17AM **613-555-0189:** Sure, but I’m in the most boring meeting known to man, so why don’t you give me more details.  
  


David makes an excuse about having more boxes to sort that Alexis definitely doesn’t buy so he can go into the back room and tell Patrick more about his products. He’s very proud of himself when he gets to redeem himself by sharing his much refined elevator pitch and consignment plan. It can be hard to tell over text, but he thinks Patrick might even be impressed.

***

They text off and on for the next hour, while David works on the store and Alexis mostly gets in the way, or asks for more information about who he’s texting so she can recite her business textbooks. There’s been a bit of a break when he receives a message that says:

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Mon 3 May** 01:08PM **Patrick:** Your business license is ready to pick up at Town Hall. Sorry I can’t bring it over to you.   
  


David’s glad Alexis has begged off to go for a smoothie break so no one can see his face when he gets that. It’s really happening. His store has been granted the legal documentation to open to the public. It’s both exciting and terrifying.

It’s nice that Patrick would have wanted to bring it over if he could, and David can admit he’s curious to meet him. Patrick bringing it over would also mean not having to go to the Town Hall and dealing with the council. He's not sure he trusts Alexis not to get distracted if he sends her, however, so he’ll have to do it himself.

When he reaches the Town Hall his mother’s eyes are disturbingly sharp on his. “I would conjecture you are here to take possession of your business license,” she says, like this is a reveal worthy of Poirot.

“Um, yes?”

The only other member of the council in the room is Ronnie, who lets out an amused snort.

“Why didn’t you inform me of Peter?”

It takes David a moment to realise she probably means Patrick. “Um, do you mean Patrick? He’s just someone Ray got to help me with some forms.”

Ronnie’s eyebrows raise at that like she doesn’t believe him, which is deeply weird.

“How fascinating,” his mother says, like he’s said something far more interesting than he has. “He seemed _quite_ invested in the progression of your boutique receiving the council’s imprimatur.”

David throws his hands up in confusion. “Could I just have my business licence, please?”

Moira’s face goes surprisingly gentle as she brings an envelope over to him, but of course that doesn’t carry over into what she says. “Now please don’t lose this, David; it would be _rather_ embarrassing for me were you to need your administrivia replaced.”

***

“What _exactly_ did you tell my mother?” David demands as soon as Patrick answers the phone, having called as soon as he got back to his store.

“What did I—what?” There’s a rustling. “Just give me a minute.” There’s some shuffling noises, and the sounds of people talking, but David can’t make out what they’re saying.

A few seconds later Patrick’s voice comes through clearly again, though with a slight echo. “Right, sorry about that. What happened, was it something with the business license?”

“The business license is _fine_ , the issue is that my _mother_ was obsessed with asking about _you_.”

“Your… mother?”

David rolls his eyes. “Yes, what did you say to her?”

“I’m really sorry, David, but I don’t understand. When exactly would I have spoken to her?”

“When they told you the business license was ready, obviously. At the council?” David thinks for a second, realising something he hadn’t thought to question before. “Wait, why did they contact you when it was ready?”

“Um,” Patrick says. “I actually called to check up on it? I just thought you might not have known yet and I wanted you to get it as soon as possible.”

That was… somewhere between invasive and sweet. Maybe a normal thing for someone working in small business support to do? “And what did you say when you called?”

“Well, I asked about the progress, and the woman I was talking to asked why I cared, so I said I was your business associate.”

“What? Why wouldn’t you just say you work with Ray?”

“I—wait a second.” There’s a pause during which there’s some more muffled sounds and David’s pretty sure he hears Patrick tell someone to have a good night. David practices his deep breathing, which he has always kind of hated, but it does actually work.

“Sorry,” Patrick says when the noise retreats. “So.” There’s a deep breath over the phone. “I kind of have to admit I have no idea who Ray is?”

David feels like he did when he was four and learned that Swarovski crystals weren’t real gemstones. “What? But he gave me your number?”

“I, um, think you probably typed it in wrong? Or he wrote it down wrong, but I’m pretty certain I’m not who he meant for you to call.”

David sits down in the single chair he still has in his store. “But you helped me with the forms.”

There’s a pained sounding laugh. “I was a business major, and I do some consultancy here and there which is relevant? So I figured I’d... help.”

David has to blink at that. He feels so deeply unsettled, because he wants to feel violated, but it also seems like… maybe a little bit of a nice thing to do for someone? “So you got a wrong number call from a total stranger and you decided to help him _file_ for his _business license?_ Including piecing together a bunch of information from voicemails sent while high, to fill it in for him?”

“Um… yes? I am sorry, I should have told you I was just—” Patrick’s voice gets quieter like he really doesn’t want to be heard “—I can’t remember the last time I did anything even vaguely interesting. Your business seemed interesting.”

“You spent our entire first conversation making fun of how vague my plan was!”

“Yes, but vague in a really _interesting_ way.” Patrick’s voice has a bit of its spark back and David’s pissed off he’s pleased to hear it.

There’s more noises in the background. “Where exactly are you?”

“I’m, um, in a stairwell at my office building? It’s the only place where you can have a somewhat private conversation and it seemed like maybe I couldn’t play this off as a work call.”

David looks up to the ceiling. “Which is what you did with the first call?”

“Yeah. And that’s why I called so early when I got the form done; I waited as long as I could but I need to be at my desk by nine.”

David looks down and realises he’s still holding the envelope containing his shiny new business license. “Okay, so you called the town council why?”

“Like I said; I thought you’d be happy to hear it arrived. I really do think it’s a great business idea.” Patrick sounds sheepish, which is strange after so much of his previous almost brash confidence.

“Right. But you had no actual reason to get the info, so you told my mother you are my business associate.”

“Oh crap. Your mother works at the Town Hall?”

“Mmhm, _now_ he gets it! Moira Rose, Schitt’s Creek latest town councillor. Though honestly I have no idea what Ronnie did to get her to be the one to answer the phone.”

“God, I’m so sorry, it never even occurred to me they’d know you.”

David laughs. “Yup, you definitely don’t live in Schitt’s Creek.”

“You got me there; I’m in Kitchener. It’s big enough here that most people don’t know who most people are.”

David closes his eyes for a moment at the idea of living in a place where he could actually go somewhere without everyone recognising him. To be fair, even when he could have experienced that while living in New York, he still almost always went places where he was known. It would, however, be nice to have the _option_ of anonymity.

“What you did was very creepy.”

“Yes, I see that now. I really am sorry, I kind of convinced myself I was just helping and that made it okay.”

“Mmhm,” David says, giving himself a moment to think. “I’m not sure if I’m going to forgive you.”

“Of course not, David. Honestly, please feel free to lose my number and never think of me again, just some weirdo.”

“Is that what you _want_ me to do?” David doesn’t mean to say it, but he has to know. “Never talk to you again?”

“I…” The sound comes through of Patrick taking a fortifying breath. “I really liked talking to you and I would love to hear how things go with Rose Apothecary. So... if you want to keep me in the loop, that’s what I’d like. But I get it if you don’t.”

“Hm.” David doesn’t know quite what to do with that. “Okay, you’re on probation.” There’s more noise through the phone, that he can now recognise as hard-soled shoes on stairs. “You should probably get back to work before everyone thinks your marriage is falling apart because you’re having skulking conversations in the stairwell.”

Patrick laughs in an almost pained way, like that maybe that hit a bit too close to home. “You’re right. Thank you for granting me probation. So we’ll… text?”

David nods before realising that he has to speak. “Mmhm, sure.”

When he hangs up the phone, David puts down the envelope with the license and paces the store until he’s pretty sure he’s no longer on the verge of a panic attack.

Some guy just randomly decided to help him with his business? Which… involves him now having a lot of personal information about David, _shit,_ why had he been so happy to say so much to a stranger because Ray thought he should? And now he’s considering what, being _friends_ with the guy?

He does, theoretically, have some information on him, though, if the name is real and not part of some twisted lie. David opens a new tab on his phone and searches “Patrick Brewer”. The results seem overwhelming until he thinks to add “Kitchener, Ontario”. That narrows it down and there’s a Facebook page with not much public information, with a blandly handsome guy in all the profile pictures, a few of them accompanied by a cute redheaded woman.

Going back to google, there’s a page of a local baseball team, which has the same guy in the team photo, but the next link is the real jackpot. It’s a terribly formatted post, on an ugly blog, of a dull looking company. In it, they congratulate their ‘Financial Analyst Patrick Brewer’ on his great presentation at a conference called 'Data: Intelligence, Compliance, and Knowledge’. More importantly, there’s a video.

David skips into the video enough to be past the introduction and there he is: the same guy as the Facebook account, in mediocre business casual, gesturing to a PowerPoint presentation that aesthetically leaves a lot to be desired. He’s also talking. David can’t understand what the fuck he’s—strangely passionately—saying about “revitalising business through data analysis,” but he’s far too busy feeling relieved at the sound of a familiar voice.

Patrick Brewer, with his adorable girlfriend, his small-town baseball league, and his painfully corporate job, is maybe a bit of a troll, but probably not a manipulative mastermind. He just... heard David needed help and decided to give it. In the most annoying and endearingly sarcastic way possible. He’d said he thought David's business plan was solid.

David has to ask, because if Patrick was telling the truth about the rest, maybe that was true as well? The reply is practically instantaneous.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Mon 3 May** 03:32PM **David:** So you really think the store is a good idea?  
  
**Patrick:** I think it’s a great idea.  
  


***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Wed 5 May** 10:26AM **David:** You should tell me something really embarrassing  
  
**Patrick:** I should?  
  
**David:** Yes. Because you really embarrassed me. So  
  
**Patrick:** I guess you’re right, that would be fair.  
  
**Patrick:** How embarrassing are we talking?  
  
**David:** Why don’t you start and I’ll tell you when to stop?  
  
**Patrick:** I slept with a stuffed toy elephant until I was fifteen.  
  
**David:** That’s not embarrassing, that’s adorable  
  
**Patrick:** I called my boss ‘Dad’ in a meeting once when I was just out of college.  
  
**David:** Getting warmer  
  
**Patrick:** I’m thirty years old and I have no idea what I’m doing with my life.  
  
**Patrick:** Crap, was that too real?  
  
**David:** Not at all. Although I’m not sure I believe in thirty-year-olds who know what they’re doing with their life  
  
**Patrick:** You don’t?  
  
**David:** Isn’t that just something from TV shows? Thirty-somethings who have a solid job and relationship and actual plans? When I was thirty I was travelling across Europe in the hopes I could eat-pray-love myself without having to go anywhere I’d risk food poisoning  
  
**Patrick:** I’m getting the impression we have lived very different lives.  
  
**Patrick:** Do I need to keep embarrassing myself?   
  
**David:** You can stop for now  
  
**Patrick:** Very generous.

***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Thu 6 May** 12:33PM **Patrick:** Why do people think it's okay to microwave fish next to an open-plan office?  
  
**David:** I am suddenly even more grateful that I have never been inside an open-plan office  
  
**Patrick:** Never?  
  
**David:** Never  
  
**Patrick:** You cannot understand how much I envy you.  
  
**David:** Don’t worry, I’m used to it  
  


***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Fri 7 May** 01:16PM **David:** Do you have any idea how to set up a check-out computer thing?  
  
**Patrick:** You mean a till?  
  
**Patrick:** What kind? I’m on my lunch break, if you find me the product name I could look it up.  
  
**David:** It’s this one: https://amzn.to/2DElnoi  
  
**Patrick:** I found this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO6xjHcqvvQ  
  
**David:** Ugh I hate instructional videos, they’re always so smug that they know what they’re doing  
  
**Patrick:** You know what? I’ll call you.  
  


***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sun 9 May** 2:52PM **David:** How much would you pay for a hand-made candle?  
  
**Patrick:** Depends on the candle. Maybe $25?  
  
**David:** What if I told you it used locally sourced beeswax  
  
**Patrick:** If it’s Mother’s Day soon I might go up to $35 for one of those big ones.  
  
**David:** Hmm that’s disappointing  
  
**Patrick:** To be fair, I am not a super experienced candle purchaser  
  
**Patrick:** Why don’t you email me the margins you’re working with and I’ll take a look at it?  
  
**David:** Seriously?  
  
**Patrick:** Sure, I have a free afternoon.  
  


***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Mon 10 May** 1:03PM **Patrick:** So… what if we actually were business associates?  
  
**David:** What?  
  
**Patrick:** Look, I think your whole plan is great, but based on the numbers you were showing me over the weekend you need more money.   
  
**David:** How would having you as a business associate help with this exactly?  
  
**Patrick:** I’ve been looking into grants for people who’re supporting local business. That would get you the money you need for the business and the money you’d need to pay me.  
  
**David:** You live hours away. And you already have a job.  
  
**Patrick:** Yes, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to ramp up my consultancy and leave that job for ages. And there’s this thing called the internet. I could do basically all the paperwork and tax stuff you need remotely.   
  
**Patrick:** There’s some things it would be easier to do if I was there of course, so you could try and find someone local instead of me.   
  
**Patrick:** But I really think you have a great idea here.  
  
**David:** I can’t believe I am even considering this. How do I have any idea you are who you say you are?  
  
**Patrick:** I was thinking I could drive down this weekend and we could hash it out. I wouldn’t be able to come in person that often, but maybe every month or so?  
  
**David:** You do know this whole idea is insane, right?  
  
**Patrick:** Sure.  
  
**David:** And it’s a long way to come when I won’t be able to pay you anything unless you get that money.  
  
**Patrick:** Oh, I’m gonna get the money.  
  
**David:** Well... okay.  
  
**Patrick:** In that case, could you tell me more about the store?  
  
**David:** I’ll send you a mood board.  
  


***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Tue 11 May** 10:49AM **David:** Did you send me a frame?  
  
**Patrick:** Yes, I thought maybe you could use it for the business license.  
  
**Patrick:** I ordered it before you sent me the mood board, at which point I realised you’d probably hate it.  
  
**David:** It is a tad corporate  
  
**Patrick:** Sorry  
  
**David:** I guess it’s a good thing I’m making all the aesthetic decisions for our business then  
  
**Patrick:** I guess it is.  
  
**David:** When exactly are you coming in this weekend?  
  
**Patrick:** Saturday.  
  
**Patrick:** Figured I’d come for the afternoon, crash at the local motel, then leave bright and early to get back in time for family lunch on Sunday.  
  
**David:** Family lunch? That’s adorable.  
  
**Patrick:** I guess. Not something your family does?  
  
**David:** Actually I guess we do? But that’s a relatively new thing for us. And I am delighted every time I have an excuse to skip it  
  
**Patrick:** Honestly, I’d love to skip it but no can do.  
  
**David:** Meeting your shiny new business partner not a good enough excuse?  
  
**Patrick:** You don’t understand the sanctity of the Sunday Family Lunch.  
  
**David:** Oh I see, you didn’t use the capitals before  
  
**Patrick:** Don’t tell my mom I skipped the capitals.  
  
**David:** Your secret is safe with me  
  


***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Thu 13 May** 6:24PM **David:** Wait, did you say you’re staying at the motel?  
  
**Patrick:** Yes? It’s a four hour drive, I’d rather not have to make it twice in one day.  
  
**David:** What motel?  
  
**Patrick:** The one in Schitt’s Creek, obviously. I already booked my room.  
  
**Patrick:** Is there an issue?  
  
**David:** It’s just not a very nice place.  
  
**Patrick:** Why do you live there if it’s that bad?  
  
**David:** I forgot I told you that I live here. It’s fine, don’t worry.  
  
**Patrick:** Is it weird that I’m staying at the same motel as where you live? It just seemed like the most logical plan.  
  
**David:** I said it’s fine!  
  


***

“You’re doing what?” Stevie is absolutely laughing at him, so hard she’s half falling off her position on the couch.

David really hadn’t wanted to explain any of this to Stevie, or to his Dad, or to _anyone_ really, because it sounds insane. He’s going into business with a random guy he called by accident. Well, he probably won’t tell his father about the whole wrong number thing, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to avoid spilling the whole story to Stevie once he started talking about it.

He’s been half avoiding her, which has been weirdly easy: between the store and the motel they’re both a lot busier than they used to be. He’s still kind of embarrassed about the mix-up with Patrick and he knew she’d be able to smell that on him. She’s like one of those cadaver dogs, except instead of dead bodies, it’s things he doesn’t want her to know about. But if Patrick was staying at the motel no way was David going to somehow avoid her finding out.

He brings a bottle of a local wine he discovered that he’ll be selling at the store. He’s pretty sure he’ll need to mark that on inventory or something, but that’s a problem for Future David. Right Now David, however, has just explained what’s going on and is getting laughed at by his best friend.

“I’m taking on a partner in my business.”

“Who you accidentally called as a wrong number and lives _four hours away_!” Stevie is still laughing a little, but is starting to look concerned. “How do you even know he is even who he says he is? What if he’s catfishing you?”

“That’s why he’s coming this weekend.” David hopes that, by acting like he thinks the whole plan is sensible and reasonable, it will somehow become so.

“Okay, so you’ll know he’s a real person, but he could be anyone.” Stevie has achieved full Concerned Face, which is a disaster, and means David needs to pour more wine.

“I may have… googled him,” he admits with a wince.

Stevie actually looks more impressed than judgemental. “That’s an unusual level of self-preservation from you!”

“Fuck you very much,” he replies but without too much bite. Apparently he wasn’t great at looking into details of people he worked with before. Oh god, what if Patrick is some sort of plot conspired by his parents? It makes no sense and he really doesn’t want to get into the whole gallery reveal all over again, so he’s glad when she continues speaking.

“So, what did you find on him? You’re sure you found the right person, not someone else with the same name?”

David nods. “Yes, definitely the same voice in the video, plus I can confirm if he matches up when I meet him on Saturday.”

“Ooh there’s a video,” Stevie says, waggling her eyebrows ridiculously.

“It’s some tedious business conference presentation.”

Stevie pouts. “Well that’s dull. Anything good on his Facebook? Shirtless selfies, _wine_ preferences?”

David rolls his eyes at her tone. “Nothing like that, though I’m pretty sure the only red he’s currently _drinking_ is his red-headed girlfriend.” Which maybe doesn’t make sense after he says it, but hopefully that means the alcohol is working. “Honestly his Facebook page is pretty locked down.”

“A girlfriend, eh?” Stevie is getting a worryingly shrewd look on her face. She gets out her phone and asks, “What was his name, again?”

David rubs his palm over his face. “Oh god Stevie, don’t cyber-stalk my business partner.” He maybe likes saying that too much. Business partner. Someone who thinks his ideas are good and wants to make them happen.

“You cyber-stalked him first!”

“For safety.”

“Why do you think I’m not doing it for safety, too?”

David rolls his eyes. “You just want to know if he’s hot.”

Stevie gives him her most earnest look, which someone who had never met her before might actually believe. “Why can’t it be both?”

David throws his hands in the air and narrowly avoids spilling his entire glass of wine. “His name is Patrick Brewer. He lives in Kitchener.”

Stevie fiddles on her phone and has the Facebook page David had found pulled up frightening fast. “This him?”

David nods.

Stevie fiddles with his phone some more and then says, “Ooh, he’s engaged!”

“What?” David is very pissed off at the part of himself disappointed at this news. “How do you know that?”

Stevie turns her phone to show him a picture of Patrick with the little red-head. In it, she’s holding up a ring, and his mouth is turned up, but he must be one of those guys who can’t smile convincingly on camera, because it looks forced. “His Facebook may be locked down, but Rachel is basically begging to have her identity stolen.”

“Rachel?”

“The girlfriend! Well, fiancée, has the relationship status update and everything to prove it.”

David winces. “This feels creepy.”

“Should I stop?” Stevie moves as though she’s going to close the app.

“No!” David clears his throat. “I mean, no. We should know what we can about him. For safety.”

Stevie nods very seriously. “Yes. For _safety.”_

By the end of the night they know that Patrick and Rachel have known each other since high school, exactly _which_ high school they went to, and somehow Stevie found a picture of Patrick’s college band ‘Typically Nipples’. They finish his good wine, along with one of the bottles of the cheap red the general store used to sell that Stevie's been hoarding.

David kind of wishes he felt worse about it, but honestly knowing more about Patrick makes him feel more secure about the whole thing. Until he realises that Patrick could just as easily google David, and he wouldn’t need a friend who is good at cyber-sleuthing to find out _far_ more personal information about him than anything they’ve pulled up on Patrick.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Patrick visits Schitt's Creek, but he's not the only one in town that day.

Patrick’s not sure exactly what he walked in on, upon opening the door to the Schitt’s Creek Motel, but it seems tense. There’s a guy in a weird ragged cardigan squeezing the cheeks of a guy in a sweater with birds on it, while a smirking woman watches.

Bird Sweater Guy turns to see him and looks extremely startled, before stepping back from Cardigan Guy and speaking. “Patrick, hi! I didn’t think you’d get here so early.”

It’s clear that it’s David in the bird sweater, and while Patrick would love to get more info on why _exactly_ he recognised him on sight, things seem weird enough in here as it is. “Hi David! I woke up early today and figured I might as well get on the road, you know?” Patrick is an expert in sounding casual and relaxed when he’s anything but, so he’s pretty sure it doesn’t come through that, actually, he could barely even sleep because he was so excited to have an excuse to go and do something _different_ for a day.

David nods and says “Mmhm,” but doesn’t get to say anything else before the other guy interrupts.

“So nice to meet you, Patrick; I’m Sebastien Raine.” The guy says his own name like it’s significant, but Patrick’s still a lot more focused on David, who is tall and handsome in a way Patrick has rarely seen in real life, if ever.

Patrick has spent the past week alternately obsessing over—and berating himself for obsessing over—David Rose. It takes effort to take his eyes off him so he can talk to this guy, who David really doesn’t seem to like. “Hi, I’m Patrick Brewer,” he says, only his deeply ingrained manners allowing him to meet the guy’s eyes and keep a friendly smile on his face.

Sebastien seemingly doesn’t have those manners because he immediately looks away from Patrick and strokes David’s arm before saying, in a whisper designed to be heard, “I guess the options on Grindr aren’t up to your usual standards here.”

Patrick hates how thoroughly his brain stalls out when he hears that. He’s used to verbally sparring with people, but this is so far from his wheelhouse.

Except David is visibly upset when he looks at Patrick, like he's expecting him to walk right back out the door. He turns to Sebastian and says, “It’s—it’s not like that, Sebastien!” 

Patrick says the first thing he can think of that might put this asshole in his place. “Trust me, I’m _well aware_ of how high David’s standards are. That’s why I’m hoping he’d be willing to let me invest in his new business.”

David looks both shocked and relieved, but Sebastien’s expression is annoyingly intrigued. The woman behind the desk is grinning wildly, and has pulled out a bag of snacks.

“David, you didn’t tell me you had a new business. I’m sure I can _help_ you get _started_.” Sebastien manages to make the idea sound impressively sleazy; Patrick hopes his blush isn’t completely obvious.

David shakes his head. “You know what, Sebastien? I think I’m good.” He meets Patrick’s eyes in a pleading way and walks out of the motel lobby. 

Patrick follows him out, hoping that’s what David was getting at, and then walks with him silently down the side of the motel and into a room. 

David only seems to register where they are once the door is shut. He looks around the room and winces. “Ugh, sorry to bring you here; I just needed to get away from Sebastien and he was going to see us if we’d stayed outside.”

“That’s okay,” Patrick says, taking in what is clearly David’s room—one it seems like he shares, based on the way things are arranged around each bed. 

David shakes his head. “It really isn’t okay, at all, so I understand if you want to give up on this whole—” he gestures wildly “—and turn right back around, but if you could please wait until you’re sure Sebastien won’t see you do it?”

Patrick wants to do something to reassure him; put a hand on his shoulder or even give him a hug, but he can’t stop thinking of the way Sebastien had been so proprietary about touching David. He feels like a useless lump just standing there, but he’d rather be that than be anything like Sebastien. “I’m not planning on running away, I haven’t even seen the store yet.”

“You _really_ don’t have to say that.” David looks completely resigned.

Patrick clasps his hands together to stop from reaching out and touching David, who he has to remind himself he really doesn’t know. “Listen, I don’t know what was going on in there and you don’t have to tell me, but I don’t see how it relates to your ability to run a business.” He can’t help but grin a little. “Hey, even that asshole in the lobby wanted to get in on what you’re building!”

It works and David laughs, which is even better in person than over the phone. Which is a weird thing to think about your new potential business partner and friend, but from the moment he picked up the phone that first time, Patrick knew he’d never met anyone like David Rose.

“You seriously aren’t going to demand an explanation of any of that?” David gestures again, as if to encompass the whole scene.

“Well there is one thing…” Patrick knows he doesn’t do a good job of hiding his smirk. “How did you recognise me when I came in?”

There’s the noise of a door slamming outside. “Oh, look at that, Sebastien’s gone to his room! Why don’t you go back to the lobby and get yourself checked in?”

Patrick laughs at the blatant deflection and complies, the question still lingering at the back of his mind.

***

Patrick has spent a lot of time recently feeling restless about what the hell he’s doing with his life, but he feels surprisingly calm as he walks into Rose Apothecary for the first time. 

For one thing, the store is gorgeous, far beyond what he could have realised from the pictures David has sent him. It is understated and classic in a way that Patrick could never hope to achieve. Yes, it’s obviously still in progress, with boxes on every surface, but Patrick is incredibly impressed.

Then there’s David, who looks _so_ like he belongs in this space. Patrick’s already sure that David will be great at this, because he’s so passionate about the products he’s offering. It’s one of the main things that really captured Patrick’s attention when listening to his voicemails; whenever he got distracted by something specific he was going to sell, it made Patrick want to buy it, despite most of it not really being his usual fare.

“Wow, this place looks amazing!” Patrick does his best to sound enthusiastic, but not so much that it comes across as fake. Sometimes his tone gets read as sarcastic, even when he’s being sincere.

David looked on the verge of defensive watching him come in, but Patrick’s words seem to make him relax a little. “Obviously there’s still a lot to be done—I’m still finessing the product journey as you move through the store.”

Patrick nods because that weirdly makes sense. “You want to have all the products in the right place in relation to each other, eh?”

“Exactly! If someone moves straight from body milk to cat fur scarves they’re going to completely forget to check the rest of skin care.” David gestures to the products as he names them and Patrick makes a mental note to keep away from those scarves. And possibly take an antihistamine.

“Those do kind of go together, though.” Patrick delights in David’s blank look in response before continuing, “You know, cats love milk?”

David looks annoyed and—though he’s trying to hide it—amused. It is _exactly_ the sort of facial expression Patrick has imagined being on his face through their phone conversations, except even moreso, because he could never have imagined a face as expressive as David’s. It makes Patrick want to tease him even more, just to see what reactions he can draw out of David.

“It’s really not that sort of milk,” David says.

Patrick picks up a bottle and looks at the label. “So it doesn’t need to be refrigerated?”

David looks at him like he’s suggested they paint the store neon orange. “Obviously not. It’s _body_ milk.” He says, vaguely gesturing down his body to emphasize. “Liquid moisturiser. Anyone with a _fibre_ of common sense would know that it’s not actually milk”

“No drinking the body milk, got it,” Patrick says and feels kind of sad that he doesn’t really need to learn this stuff. Even if he does join the business, he won’t be here for the day to day.

David flaps his hands slightly. “So, how are we going to do this?”

Patrick puts down the bottle he’s been absent-mindedly fondling. “Right! Well, you already know my proposition.” His face heats at his own use of the word ‘proposition’, which is utterly ridiculous and childish. “I have my laptop, and figured I could show you what I’ve been putting together for the grant applications? If you decide you’re actually interested, you could show me what you’ve got so far in terms of taxes and book-keeping.”

David nods a few too many times. “Mmhm, right, all of that _paperwork_. Yes. Okay.” 

He doesn’t make a single move to get started, so Patrick figures he might as well set his laptop up on the beautiful wooden checkout counter, which seems to spur David into action.

“Oh! There’s actually a desk, in the store room?” David gestures to the back of the store. “We could use that?”

Patrick picks up his laptop, and notices the one slightly out of place item in this whole immaculately put together store. David’s business licence is on the wall, in the woefully corporate frame Patrick had bought him. He's very glad David’s already moving through to the back and can’t see his expression upon seeing it. Patrick is in no way ready to untangle the size of the emotions that David using that frame makes him feel. He doesn’t say anything about it and follows David through to the small space. 

In the store room there are a _lot_ of opened and unopened boxes, and a small desk with a single chair. David moves his laptop from the top of the desk onto a pile of boxes and makes an aborted ‘ta da!’ gesture, so Patrick sets his down. There isn’t much room for the two of them to navigate and Patrick does his best to not come across as awkward whenever they brush against each other. He keeps remembering the horror on David’s face when Sebastien had made his little ‘grindr’ barb and he can't stand the idea of David thinking he’s bothered by what that might mean about his sexuality. 

David is looking at the single chair in increasing panic, which is exactly the sort of issue that Patrick cannot help but try to fix. Without thinking, he drops down onto his knees next to the chair. If he stretches a little it’s not actually a terrible height for using the laptop. 

He looks up to meet David’s eyes, now even more panicked, and tries to project utter confidence. “Come on, you can take the chair; I’m good like this.”

David shakes his head and tries to back up slightly, just hitting some more boxes. “No, you’re the guest, you should have the chair.”

Patrick rolls his eyes in response. “I’m the one trying to convince you to let me work with you, and I really don’t mind being on my knees.” 

An eyebrow-heavy micro-expression crosses David’s face, causing Patrick to realise how suggestive that comment could sound. Luckily, before he can really think about that, or the strange way this whole thing is making him feel, David sighs and shrugs. “If you’re sure... these pants really weren't meant for such a position.” 

There’s something in the way he says it that makes Patrick think he’s speaking from experience and wow, that is _such_ an inappropriate thought. Patrick busies himself with the laptop in order to stop whatever his brain is doing while David sits down.

***

Both of them jump when the bell above the main door rings and they hear it open and close. Patrick’s in the midst of helping David figure out an end of day checklist that he will actually be willing to keep up to date, and realises they’ve been at the desk for—Patrick checks the clock on his laptop—four hours. Once Patrick completed his pitch they’d started working out details, and the time had just slipped away. Now that he’s regained awareness of his body, Patrick can feel his back and knees are not happy with him for staying in this position for such a long time, but he can’t regret it when he hasn’t been this excited about anything in forever. 

David rushes out to see who it is while Patrick takes a little longer to get up. When he goes through the curtain he sees that the visitor is the woman from the motel, who had introduced herself as ‘David’s landlord Stevie’ when he’d gone to check in. The glint in her eye, and the way it made David say ‘ugh’, let Patrick know that was a joke. He’d liked her immediately.

When she sees Patrick limping slightly and rubbing his back to try and get feeling back into his lower extremities she looks shocked. David obviously notices this and says, “hi Patrick, I was just telling Stevie about how we were looking over some paperwork.” 

Despite it being the truth he says it in an overly-convincing way that makes it sound completely fake and Patrick has to try to hide his amusement. “Yeah, we lost track of time, so I’ve been on my knees for hours.” He may be pushing a little, but Stevie snorts a laugh and David looks utterly betrayed, which is exactly what he was going for.

“Because there is only one chair in there and we were using the desk!”

Stevie nods seriously. “Yes, using the desk for _business_ for so long is really _hard_ on the body.”

Patrick gestures at her, seeing the glint that means she is enjoying David’s reaction as much as he is. “Exactly. I’m glad you understand, Stevie.”

David’s trying to hide his amusement, and clearly failing, a look that is quickly becoming Patrick's favourite. “I see now that allowing you two to meet was a grave mistake.” He rolls his eyes. “I do have to note that we were literally _just_ doing business, though, because I don’t trust Stevie _not_ to somehow tell the whole town she walked in on us fucking because you two thought it would be fun to team up against me.”

Patrick desperately hopes he doesn’t blush at David so casually laying out there what they’d been joking about. He gives Stevie what he hopes is a comically sad look. “Yup, sadly, as we all know, I’m not up to David’s ‘usual standards’.” He does an exaggerated impression as he quotes what Sebastien had said earlier and hopes he hasn’t taken it too far. 

Stevie’s smile shows she’d realised what was up as soon as Patrick joined in the joke and David huffs like he’s amused. “Okay, please don’t quote that asshole again, I’m already dreading the idea I might have to deal with him again later.”

Stevie rolls her eyes. “Clearly you will need to drink to prepare for this, which is why I am here!”

David looks her up and down. “You brought booze?”

“No, but I thought we could go to the Wobbly Elm? I need to get to know your new business partner.” Stevie looks uncertain for a moment. “That _is_ happening, right? You didn’t take one look at David’s file-keeping techniques and decide to run screaming?”

Patrick smiles. “While idiosyncratic, David’s record-keeping system has definite promise. I’d love to come on board, if he’ll have me.” He feels weirdly shy, saying it like that.

“As long as you get the grants!” David says flippantly, though he looks like he feels a bit of the shyness himself.

“I told you: I’m gonna get the money.” The eye contact between David and Patrick is almost too intense until Stevie speaks.

“In that case, we need drinks!”

“I have to shower and change if we’re going out. And I need to see if my mother has returned from whatever trap Sebastien set for her.” David rolls his eyes, but he’s clearly concerned. At some point in the afternoon, in between spreadsheets, David had given Patrick a brief summary of the Sebastien Raine story. Even the short version is enough to make Patrick wish he was the sort of guy who went around punching strangers. David glances at Patrick and adds, “assuming you want to come to a terrible bar with us? You don’t have to.”

Patrick grips David’s arm, hoping he’s nothing like Sebastien when he does it, and says in his most sincere voice, “David, I would love to go to a terrible bar with my new business partner and his landlord.”

Stevie laughs and stage-whispers to David, “I like him,” before looking right at Patrick and adding, “I like you.” 

David immediately starts complaining that they’re going to create an ‘unbalanced social dynamic’ by ganging up on him, and Patrick feels certain he’s making the right choice.

***

They decide to meet in the motel lobby to get a taxi to the bar. Stevie warns Patrick to take his time but he still ends up sitting with her in the office for about half an hour. He’s surprised to find she doesn’t spend the whole time grilling him. Instead, after insisting they exchange phone numbers, she seems happy enough playing Solitaire behind the desk. 

Patrick messes with his phone and takes the chance to send Rachel a message. She’d be upset if he didn’t, but she wouldn’t want to talk about it, and they’d end up giving each other the silent treatment for a week, so he’d rather take the chance while he has it.

**iMessage:** Rachel Campbell  
  
**Sat May 15** 7:08PM **Patrick Brewer:** Everything going well here, got some good work done.  
  


He spends the rest of the time with his favourite sudoku app, before he gives in and sends a message to David. 

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sat May 15** 7:27PM **Patrick Brewer:** Did you drown in the shower?  
  
**David Rose:** That is hilarious and original and I have definitely never heard it before  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** … So should I take that as a yes?  
  
**David Rose:** Absolutely. This is my ghost texting you now, you’ll have to find another stranger’s business to join  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Damn, I’d already started designing my new business cards. This is super inconvenient!  
  
**David Rose:** It’s for the best, whatever you were designing without me would need to be thrown out anyway  
  


Patrick laughs out loud at that which gets him a raised eyebrow from Stevie. He waves her off, feeling vaguely embarrassed to tell her he was too impatient to wait for David without checking on him.

Before Patrick can compose a response, David walks in. He’s wearing all black, with a leather jacket and his hair tousled. It is very different from his soft-looking sweater from earlier. Stevie gives a low whistle and David shoots her a ‘shut up’ look which Patrick can’t help but see. It gives him an excuse not to comment on the outfit himself, which is good because he has no idea what would happen if he tried. 

David’s outfit shouldn’t be that notable, but there’s something about the way all the elements come together that makes Patrick feel strange nerves in the pit of his stomach. He almost feels like he wants to _touch_ David—wants to feel that skin-warmed leather. He has no idea where that thought comes from, or what to do with it, but luckily their taxi turns up to serve as a distraction from the inside of his head. 

The Wobbly Elm seems exactly what Patrick would have imagined from a small-town bar; dark and a bit dingy, but not too run down. Once they’re settled in with drinks Patrick decides it’s time.

“Okay, _now_ will you tell me why you recognised me on sight?”

David nearly chokes on his drink, while Stevie laughs delightedly and crows, “busted!”

David shoots her a look. “Fine, I googled you. But it was right after I found out you had been deceiving me and I just needed to check you weren’t some sort of axe murderer!”

Patrick laughs and nods. “That seems entirely fair. What did you learn about me?” 

“Just the usual stuff: you’re engaged, you work for a fucking boring company, you play baseball,” Stevie replies. 

Patrick hates the way the pit of his stomach drops when she mentions his engagement and hopes that any expression could be chalked up to her—accurately—calling his work boring. The whole thing seems very sensible and forces Patrick to think about how reckless he’s being that he didn’t even consider doing the same with David. “Maybe I’ll return the favour!”

He means it teasingly but David goes pale at the suggestion and Stevie actually winces.

“Sure!” David says, in a voice that is not fooling anyone. 

“Or I could… not?” Patrick suggests, even though he’s now kind of desperate to do so.

Their food arrives at that point, two large platters of fried food that barely fit on the table. David had claimed one as his own when he ordered, so Patrick and Stevie are sharing. Patrick would be willing to leave their previous conversation behind for now, but after a few chicken wings David straightens his back and speaks.

“Honestly, if I know about your time in ‘Typically Nipples’, it’s probably only fair that you know about the time I got stuck in an elevator with Shia LaBeouf.”

Patrick’s blindsided twice in a row, by the mention of his band and—“You’ve met Shia LaBeouf?”

Stevie laughs. “You seriously haven’t googled him at all, have you?”

Patrick shrugs. “I didn’t think to.”

David looks at him like he’s an alien. “But you offered to go into business with me? I assumed you at least know who my Dad is and figured some of his business sense rubbed off on me.”

“Um… who’s your Dad?”

Stevie laughs and takes the last fried pickle.

David gives him a shrewd look. “Okay, either you look me up and find out all the sordid little details you want, or I tell you the story now, but you promise not to google me—” he squints suspiciously “—or any other members of my family.”

It’s obvious what the best choice is from a business perspective; it’s better to know as much as you can if you’re relying on someone, and Patrick had been serious about quitting his salaried job for this. He _should_ google David… and yet. He dips an onion ring in barbecue sauce and sits back. “Okay, tell me the story.”

So David tells his story, with frequent interjections from Stevie. When Patrick realises he’s a Rose as in _Rose Video,_ he nearly tells them about having worked at one as a teenager, but as David moves on he decides to keep that one in his back pocket. A lot is explained: the obvious, such as why someone like David is living in a motel in Schitt’s Creek, but also the way David is. Defensive but willing to take up space, like he just expects people to give it to him. 

The whole story is kind of bizarre and hard to believe, yet Patrick has no has no doubt that it’s the truth. While he’s promised not to google David, Stevie has apparently made no such agreement. At one point she pulls up an image search to show Patrick a younger David in a bizarre performance art piece, while David groans at her to stop; even if he had had doubts, that would’ve been a lot of work to fake.

It’s also very clear that David and Stevie are best friends. They play off each other effortlessly, with her sending in little barbs that never seem to go too far, and David rallying back. 

“Anyway, that is the tale of how I got stuck in the middle of nowhere, forced to rely on Stevie for company,” David finishes.

Stevie rolls her eyes. “Please, you _wish_ you had anyone as interesting as me in New York.”

“That may be true, but that’s more a commentary on them than praise of you,” David says with a sigh.

Stevie laughs and there’s a flash of fondness that makes Patrick wonder. It’s clear after the stories David’s told that he’s had relationships with both men and women, and the question is out of his mouth before he thinks it through. “So, are you two…?”

Their synchronised expressions of disgust are delightful.

“Nope!”

“Mm-mm!”

“I mean, we tried it? But no.”

“And we were both dating a guy a while ago who tried to make a whole throuple situation happen, so we broke up with him.”

“Um, yes, we… definitely did do that,” Stevie says, nodding a bit too emphatically.

Patrick grins and shakes his head. Somehow, even the story of their relationship manages to sound outlandish and far from the lives of anyone else Patrick knows. There is something about seeing them so comfortable with each other, even after having a romantic relationship between them fail, that makes his heart ache in a way he isn’t willing to address. “Well, as a thank you for your story, how about I buy another round?”

David looks at his phone and winces. “I should probably get back to the motel.”

Stevie looks surprised. “Seriously, it’s barely after nine? I’m pretty sure Alexis is still out dancing with old people.”

David shrugs, looking uncomfortable. “I have something I need to handle.”

Patrick is dying to know the details, but he’s not going to ask. “I have to head out early in the morning, so maybe going back now is for the best.”

Stevie rolls her eyes and checks her phone. “Okay, well you guys can be boring, I’ll find my own fun.

“And what sort of fun would that be?” David asks.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

When they go out to wait for their taxi she grins and waves them off, and in that moment she kind of reminds Patrick of Rachel. “I like her.”

David’s face does something complicated. “You mean—”

“No, not like that,” Patrick interrupts. “Though she does kind of remind me of Rachel.”

David looks surprised. “Your fiancée? What’s she like?”

Which is how Patrick ends up spending the wait for the taxi and the ride back telling David about Rachel; how they got together as kids and have been on and off ever since. How she’s funny and passionate and smart. How she gets on with his parents so well they joke about her being their favourite child.

He’s deeply glad they pull up to the motel before he can tell David about how he feels like he’s failing her every day. How he feels stressed out whenever they spend time together and he’s come to dread going to bed in case she tries to initiate sex. How he can’t make his brain and his feelings match up.

David walks Patrick to his door and they pause outside it. For a second it feels like David’s dropping him off after a date, which is ridiculous, they were _just_ talking about Patrick’s fiancée.

“I’m really glad we’re doing this, David.”

David nods and Patrick almost imagines his eyes drop to Patrick’s mouth, but it passes in an instant. 

“Me too, Patrick.” David steps back with an ironic smile and reaches out his hand. “Okay, let’s shake on it; I’m pretty sure that’s what business partners do.”

Patrick laughs a little and shakes David’s hand, before heading into his room. He can’t stop thinking about the feeling of David’s hand in his; how did anyone have skin that soft? It’s ridiculous and inappropriate and he’s being weird. He shouldn’t have had that last beer, that’s all.

Lying in the bed he realises he can hear faint voices from the next room. It’s quiet, so he can’t hear words, but something in the tone makes him think it’s David in there. There’s a louder voice that Patrick is suddenly certain is Sebastien. He remembers David’s outfit, the look Stevie gave it, the way he said he had to leave early to ‘handle’ something.

The sounds shift closer and louder and now Patrick is pretty sure that yes, that’s David, and also that these rooms are arranged such that both beds are against the same wall, because he can hear moans and creaking and it all sounds so close.

Patrick spends the next hour lying awake, but unable to make himself put on headphones to block out the noises coming through the wall. Once it stops he’s left unable to sleep, trying to pretend he doesn’t have a desperate erection. Eventually, after managing a couple hours of sleep, he heads out not long after dawn, so there’s no chance of catching David as he leaves Sebastien’s room.

_Fuck._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which David talks to Patrick, and talks to other people _about_ Patrick.

**INCOMING CALL: Patrick Brewer**

“We got the grant.”

“What?”

“We got the money!”

“OH MY GOD! Seriously? How? What?”

“ _You_ had a really great idea, and _I_ put in an excellent application.”

“How did this even happen so fast? It’s only been a couple of weeks.”

“Oh, I applied for this one before that; there was a deadline if you wanted to get the money this quarter. We were lucky that the timing worked out. If I applied now we wouldn’t hear back for three months.”

“Huh, okay. So you were _that_ confident you’d win me over?”

“Um, not at all, actually? But I figured you’d need the money regardless and you were snowed under trying to figure out that exclusivity agreement with Angela the candle-maker.”

“That’s… wow. Well, thank you. Holy fuck.”

“There are some other grants, but they're less organised and likely to take longer to get back to us. This is the big one.”

“I can’t believe people are just giving me this money! I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“Yes, you have. You’ve convinced the local town council, built a solid foundation of vendors who are going to supply to you, and have a strong base of support in your local community.”

“… Oh.”

“So, you sure you still want me on board? Because if so I’m going to need you to sign that contract we worked up.”

“…Yes?”

“You, uh, don’t actually sound so sure about that, David.”

“I am sure, there’s just a thing I need to do first?”

“Well, that’s ominous.”

“It’s not bad, I just want to ask my dad to check the contract first. It’s not that I don’t trust you, just—”

“Hey, of course, I assumed you’d already done that.”

“You did?”

“Uh, your dad ran an incredibly successful business for a long time, it would be a waste not to use all that knowledge at your disposal.”

“It… would?”

“Of course! Just let me know when you’re ready.”

***

It’s not that David doesn’t know that his father was an accomplished businessman, it’s just that ‘Johnny Rose the entrepreneur’ seems so far from from the man who sleeps in the room adjoining his. Even though he’d joined Stevie in running the motel, going to talk to him about Rose Apothecary never seemed that relevant. It also didn’t help that, if David had taken his business advice last time he asked, he wouldn’t even have the money he needed to start the store. 

He tells himself these are all great excuses for having ‘forgotten’ to mention Patrick to his family. It’s not like he thinks he can avoid their noses in his business, because they always find a way. If it weren’t for the Sebastien Raine of it all, he might call it a miracle they were too busy to have run into Patrick when he was here, but there’s another issue. It’s one he keeps coming back to whenever he imagines breezily dropping into conversation that he’s brought on a business partner. It’s the same issue that freaks him out when he can’t sleep, because his brain is chiding him for putting as much trust into a stranger who started out their relationship with a lie. The issue is Eli.

Their whole lives got taken away from them because of how much trust and power had been given to someone they never would have expected to betray them. Eli had been treated as a member of their family; he’d been the one who David was most likely to contact if he needed to find out whether he could expect his dad to answer the phone that week. They had trusted him completely and he’d fucked them over. 

He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to look at his Dad and say— ‘Hey, so I met a guy by calling a _wrong number_ and he’s going to be my business partner. But don’t worry, he’s the numbers guy, so he’ll definitely have the access he needs to ruin everything!’

David isn’t an idiot; he’s actually already run the contract by Ronnie, who had helped him sort out his initial vendor contracts, because this isn’t something he can afford to fuck up. Even though David suspects she has a soft spot for him, it’s clear there’s only so much free business support she is willing or able to give. When David explained the whole _situation,_ she had been incredibly suspicious of Patrick, which means he’s certain she made sure the contract was ironclad. He’s not worried there’s something in there he missed, that will mean he’s secretly signing away everything to Patrick and yet... he still wants to ask his dad. 

He’s sure his mother and Alexis will find out later, and it will probably be incredibly dramatic, but for now he waits until he can get his father alone. When the opportunity presents itself, Johnny is sitting in his room looking at his laptop with a frazzled air. While David would prefer a chance to talk to his dad when he’s not already stressed out, he’s not sure he remembers the last time he got the opportunity.

As soon as David walks in, Johnny looks up and says, “Your mother likes flowers, doesn’t she?”

“Um, I guess? She definitely liked them enough we each had to get her a new bouquet for every night of her run in that off-off-Broadway Chicken Soup For The Soul musical.”

Johnny nods frantically. “Yes, that’s right she did. That’s a great point, son!”

David chooses to ignore how pleased the disproportionate praise makes him feel. It’s been happening occasionally, like his dad is trying to learn how to give positive reinforcement to people who aren’t his wife, and he’s over-correcting.

“Anyway, I actually had something I wanted to talk to you about?” David does his best to sound confident and collected, but he’s pretty sure he lands somewhere short.

Johnny smiles, giving him closer to him full attention. “Finally wanted to ask your old man for some business advice, eh?”

It takes everything David has not to reflexively tell him no, obviously not. It takes even more to say, “yes, in a way. I wanted your perspective before I committed to something.”

David almost feels bad for the way his dad just lights up at those words. Their relationship is better than it was, but he’s still closer to his mother and Alexis. He’s coming to realise that he blames his father a lot more than his mother for the galleries, because he was the one who would have had to put in most of the work to make it happen, even if it was probably his mother’s idea. That may not be fair, but it’s always been easier for David to forgive Moira: he’s had more practice. Johnny was far too focused on work to do much that required forgiveness.

“Of course, David. Is it about your online presence, because I heard that—”

“Please do not try to give me advice on using the internet.” It was hard enough to do this as it was without listening to his dad try to lecture him about how to use social media to build a brand on ‘the tweeters’.

Johnny held up his hands in penance. “Well then, what is it?”

“I’m taking on a business partner.” Once he starts talking about Patrick it’s easy, actually. He leaves out the wrong number part, but explains how he met a business major who helped him with his application for his business licence. He talks about how Patrick obviously cares about and believes in the business, even ends up getting out his laptop to show his dad the detailed first-year plan they’ve been pulling together. 

Johnny looks genuinely impressed, asks detailed questions that David can actually answer, only half of which he would have had a response to if it weren’t for Patrick. David’s certain he would have made the store work by himself if he had to, but it’s increasingly clear just how hard that would have been.

When David sits back to wait for a verdict, Johnny looks serious. “This sounds really great, David. Patrick really seems like he has a good head on his shoulders. I’m not sure about this remote working plan idea, but you’re enough of a tech wiz so I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Johnny takes a deep breath and says, “it’s a lot of trust to put on someone, building a business together. You have to be sure.”

David’s not surprised that his father isn’t mentioning Eli by name—none of them ever do. No matter how many memories of their lives before come up, he’s always left out. What he _is_ surprised by is realising how much it means that his dad had put his lot in with Stevie for the motel. The working relationship between his best friend and his dad is something he tends to stay as far away from as possible; he’d never considered before how much they have to trust each other. 

If they were other people, this surge of emotions might be enough to make him get up and give his father a hug. Instead, David takes his own deep breath. “I am sure, but… Do you think you could take a look at the contract before we sign it?”

Johnny nods solemnly. “I’d be honoured.”

***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Thu Jun 3** 09:13AM **David:** You’re an only child, right?  
  
**Patrick:** That’s right.  
  
**David:** Would you be in the market for a sister?  
  
**Patrick:** Did Alexis use your moisturiser again?  
  
**David:** I don’t want to talk about it.  
  


***

Sitting in the lone chair in the increasingly cramped storage area while Stevie checks his head for _lice,_ should be one of the most deeply embarrassing experiences of David’s already deeply embarrassing life. Instead it’s… well, it's still embarrassing, but in a manageable sort of way. 

Stevie is surprisingly gentle as she combs through his hair and he's _so_ grateful she offered to do it, because David’s not sure he could have managed to ask her himself. Some time in the motel bathroom with a comb and a mirror this morning had told him he definitely wasn’t going to be able to check without help, and every time she finishes a section and declares it lice-free, a part of him relaxes. He’s pretty sure he’s not going to completely relax until Alexis is clear, but at least Stevie’s almost certainly going to allow his platonic sleepover plan to go forward.

When they’re done, David puts his shower cap and hat back on just in case. At this point he is incredibly stressed out about getting the store ready, but for once he can appreciate the value in a long-distance business partner, because at least he doesn’t need to explain any of this to Patrick. Just as he’s about to pick up a box of body milk for Stevie to unpack, his phone buzzes with a text.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Thu Jun 3** 10:43AM **Patrick:** So, I hear Alexis has lice.  
  


So much for that. David huffs and brings the box out to Stevie who shows no sign of shame. “When did you even get Patrick’s number?”

“I have my ways,” she says dramatically, before adding, “plus, you left us alone for ages while getting into your DTF outfit.” 

David ignores the questioning look; he’s not really seen Stevie since Patrick was here a week ago and he _really_ doesn’t want to tell her the whole Sebastien story. “Oh god, what did you say to him?”

Stevie’s mischievous grin comes out full force, but then she laughs. “Nothing really, I was playing Solitaire and he was giggling at his phone; I figured he was texting his fiancée.”

David does his best to hide his reaction to that, a flash of stupid jealousy, before remembering that Patrick had been texting _him_. Not that that means he wasn’t texting anyone else at the same time. “Hm, fine, but why did you feel the need to tell him about the lice?”

Stevie shrugs. “I just felt like your business partner deserves to know important developments in your life.”

David rolls his eyes and tells her to sort the body milks by size. Apparently everyone he’s friends with is unable to grasp the concept of milk you don’t drink, but arguing about that at least moves them on from the lice thing. It also reminds David of how _right_ it had felt to have Patrick here and teasing him, even though they’d only just met. How whenever Patrick had made a joke he’d smirked and it transformed his looks from boyishly handsome to… well. Something David has been trying to avoid thinking about.

When he checks his phone there’s a few more texts.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Thu Jun 3** 10:49AM **Patrick:** I also hear that you're using a hat we’re planning to sell to protect yourself from the lice. I hope you’ll pay for that, because I made sure you know the system for marking off stock you’re keeping.  
  
**Patrick:** David? Did the lice take you captive?  
  
**Patrick:** Do I need to mount a hunt to free you from the lice queen’s palace?  
  
**David:** I was working. In the store? You know the one?  
  
**Patrick:** Ah right, I forgot you never text in the store.  
  
**David:** Exactly, I’m very professional. And I don’t have lice, Stevie checked, so no need to worry about the hat.  
  


David has to roll his eyes at the conversation, trying not to let it show how charmed he really is, in case Stevie is looking. Clearly he has been too fast with his replies lately if Patrick is worried about it taking five minutes.

Stevie makes an exaggerated show of effort, lifting one of the large bottles of body milk out of the box, and looks pointedly at his phone.

David rolls his eyes, but puts the phone away. “You just don’t like me having someone other than you to text.”

Stevie laughs. “I’m very glad Patrick is around to share the load, but not when I’m not doing your job for you.”

***

It feels good to hang out with Stevie that night, passing her terrible vodka back and forth. David’s been so focused on the store—on getting it set up and figuring out what having Patrick as a remote business partner will even mean—that it’s nice to not think about that and just hate-watch The Bachelorette while making stupid bets with Stevie. Which is how he ends up eating her tragic boiled eggs after she guessed who would get kicked off first. 

It’s not until they get into bed together that they talk about Patrick.

“He seems nice and not at all like a serial killer.”

“I’m glad you have such high standards for people I’m going to be working with.”

Stevie turns and looks at him. “You aren’t just working with him, though.”

“What? He’s just my _business partner_.” David immediately regrets getting so defensive.

Stevie’s eyebrows raise. “Okay, I just meant that it seemed like you were becoming friends, but _this_ looks like a whole different thing. Is it…” She does a strange sort of shimmy combined with a deeply suggestive facial expression.

“Okay, no. We are working together and he’s _engaged_.”

“Who _isn’t_ engaged?” Stevie repeats the wiggle.

David shakes his head. “I don’t know what that means, plenty of people aren’t engaged!”

Stevie shrugs. “That’s fair, probably not actually a good idea to go there with him. I definitely felt some _vibes_ between you guys, though.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“He did joke about having been on his knees with you for hours.”

“Okay, yes, but that was only because his need to be a troll at all times overrides his straight boy fear of seeming gay.” David feels very sure of this, having relived the memory a dozen times since. He generally tries to avoid assuming someone's sexuality from their current partner, but in this case not doing so feels... dangerous.

Stevie laughs. “While that is an admirable trait, he also defended you from Sebastien’s whole—" she makes a grossed-out expression "—thing.”

David sighs. He's tried his best not to obsess over that, with everything else that had happened, but it had been nice to see Sebastian taken down a peg or two. “I think he might just be a genuinely nice person.”

“What must that be like?”

“I definitely don’t know.”

Stevie rolls over fully on her side, facing David. “Whatever it is, I like this for you.”

“We’re just in business together!” He cannot allow himself to have a crush on Patrick. That way lies nothing but broken contracts and regrets.

Stevie smirks. “You seem flustered.”

“I’m not flustered! Maybe it’s the eggs?”

***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Mon 7 Jun** 1:11PM **Patrick:** Do I want a BLT or tuna salad?  
  
**David:** Are there any options that aren’t hopelessly pedestrian?   
  
**Patrick:** Sorry, I forgot you live a life of infinite culinary choice.  
  
**David:** You’re joking, but you haven’t seen the size of the menu at cafe tropical  
  
**Patrick:** I’ll have to try that next time.  
  
**Patrick:** And yes, I have all sorts of options available to me, actually. But what I want is a sandwich.  
  
**David:** That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard  
  
**Patrick:** Will it make you feel better if I told you I had a burrito yesterday?  
  
**David:** No because now I know you have the option of a burrito and aren’t choosing it  
  
**Patrick:** Sorry to be such a disappointment.  
  
**David:** I don’t think you understand what I’d do for a half-decent burrito at this point  
  
**Patrick:** That not on the cafe’s menu?  
  
**David:** There is something that claims to be a burrito. You must never order it  
  
**Patrick:** But now I’m intrigued.  
  
**David:** I need you to promise me  
  
**Patrick:** Fine, I won’t get the Schitt’s Creek attempt at a burrito.  
  
**David:** Good, now I’m going to need you to describe to me the one you had yesterday  
  
**David:** Slowly  
  


***

David’s in the middle of a mood board to convince Patrick that they’ll be able to sell sheep placenta serum, when Alexis gets back from work in her ugly scrubs and gives him a serious look. “Oh good, you’re here, David.” 

“Um, yes, though I feel like I’m going to regret not staying later at the store in a minute.”

Alexis huffs and sits down right next to David on his bed. “Ugh, don’t be mean, I just want to check on you.”

David sets his laptop aside. “And why exactly would that be?”

“Dad said you were bringing on your boyfriend as a business partner and I just wanted to check you were thinking clearly.”

“He said _what_?” David thinks carefully over everything he’d said when they talked about the business. _Fuck_ , is he really so transparent that someone as oblivious as his father thinks he’s attracted to Patrick?

Alexis rolls her eyes. “I mean, obviously he doesn’t know he’s your boyfriend and that’s why I need to be the one to say this.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, why would you even think that?”

“You told me that, in your store!”

“ _No_ , I told you he was giving me business advice.” David has to remind himself that if he goes to jail for Alexis’ murder he’ll have to wear terrible sad prison clothes. 

“I mean, sure, but I figured that was a euphemism.”

“Why would that be a euphemism!?”

“I don’t know, you went in the back to keep texting him and you’re always like, smiling and looking at your phone now. What was I supposed to think?”

“That I am excited to start my store and need to be in close contact with my _business partner_?” Having this conversation with Alexis taking up half his bed really gets in the way of gesturing as emphatically as he wants to right now.

“Ugh, David, are you sure?”

“Yes, I am _sure_ he’s not my boyfriend. He’s engaged!”

David knows saying that was a tactical mistake the second he does it. Alexis’ eyes get all big and sad, and David honestly wishes she would go back to just being condescending.

“I’m so sorry, David.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for!”

Alexis shakes her head. “I know it can seem like working with someone you like can be a super chill and fun way to get close to them, and let them see how cute _and_ capable you are! And it starts off being great, but also, like… spending so much time that close to someone you really like, but not getting to _be_ with them is kind of the worst.”

David wants to snap at her, but it’s clear she’s projecting, which makes him suspect her obvious infatuation with Ted is more serious than he realised. It’s so far from the Alexis he’s spent his whole life knowing. 

“I promise this really isn’t one of those situations. Patrick is maybe becoming a friend, but he’s my business partner because he’s really fucking good at stuff I hate doing.”

Alexis looks at him shrewdly. “And you’re being careful? Like, with the store stuff, not just with your heart or whatever, because in my class they said—”

“I had Ronnie help me with his contract.”

“Well, why didn’t you just tell me that, David!”

Alexis settles down like that resolves everything, which he guesses it does.

“Sorry, I forgot that contract negotiations were supposed to go through you.”

“You say that as a joke, but which one of us negotiated release from a holding cell in Istanbul using only the timestamps on the tumblr blog of a teenager who took pictures of me and tagged them ‘Taylor Swift’?”

David had almost forgotten about that one.

“So when do I get to meet Patrick, anyway?” Alexis said, snuggling into the bed like she’s not planning on moving any time soon.

“You aren’t, he lives in Kitchener.”

“In _Australia_?”

“No, Ontario, obviously.”

Alexis looks a little chastened, but still gets out her phone to check there is actually a Kitchener, Ontario.

***

**OUTGOING CALL: Patrick Brewer**

“I have ten minutes left of my lunch break, what’s up?”

“I can’t decide between ecru and eggshell for the sign.”

“So you decided you wanted _my_ help?”

“There’s no need to sound so shocked, you _are_ my business partner.”

“Yes, but you’ve made it very clear how you feel about my aesthetic instincts.”

“Would we really even call them instincts?”

“Exactly.”

“Well I still can’t decide.”

“Why did you call anyway, why not just text me a picture of the options?”

“Why do you need a picture?”

“So I can see what they look like?”

“I just told you, it’s ecru or eggshell!”

“I think you might have a better visual imagination than me, David.”

“That would explain a lot.”

“Okay, why don’t you tell me about the choices?”

“Well, obviously we’re trying to project an air of approachable sophistication.”

“Obviously.”

“Hm, well eggshell is paler—closer to cream, but has an air of elegance—whereas ecru is warmer; still tasteful but a little more natural. You could take it further, of course, but then we’d end up with parchment.”

“And parchment is off the table?”

“Wait, do you think it shouldn’t be? I’d narrowed down to two before I called you, but I could move back a step if you think we need to.”

“I was joking, David; I’m sorry. I think ecru and eggshell are both great options.”

“Of course they are, _I_ chose them, but which one is the _best_ option?”

“I liked what you said about ecru.”

“You did?”

“I did.”

“You aren’t just saying that to get me to shut up?”

“I’m really not! You said it’s more natural, while still being tasteful, and I think that’s perfect for your store.”

“Our store.”

“You don’t need to say that to humour me, you’re the one there doing all the work.”

“Patrick, you emailed me at three am this morning to let me know you figured out the bank's Government Payment & Filing online system. It’s _our_ store.”

“Well, okay then.”

“Okay.”

“I have to get back to my desk.”

“Well, I’m not stopping you.”

“Of course not.”

“Oh, and Patrick?”

“Yes?”

“I’m going with ecru.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Patrick has a date with Rachel, sees his family, and takes some time to think.

Ever since Patrick went to Schitt’s Creek for a day, it’s like a switch has been flipped: it’s easier to get up in the morning, he has more energy, he’s getting more done. Working on the the store while maintaining his full time job is intense, but also rewarding in a way he hadn't even realised he was missing. He’d given his two weeks notice at work once David had finalised his contract and he only has one week to go. He’s pretty sure he’s overworking himself to a huge crash if he isn’t careful, but that’s a problem for Future Patrick. 

He’ll still need to find some consultancy work, which he needs because while they probably have enough money to pay Patrick to work on the store full time, there just isn’t enough work that can be done remotely to justify it. Besides, they’ll most likely have to use that money to hire someone else part-time at some point, so David’s not covering every single shift by himself. 

Things with Rachel are both better and worse. Better, because his mood is better. He hadn’t even realised how much of a miserable asshole he’d been lately until he saw her look of surprise when he asked how her day was for the first time in weeks, so he’s been putting in more effort there. Worse because, well... he hasn’t told her about the store.

It’s not something he set out to do. He’d figured the thing with David was a funny story he’d tell her casually some time. Then he’d asked about joining the business, but thought he should wait until he’d visited Schitt’s Creek; there was no need to tell her about some major change in his working life if it might not end up happening. Despite a successful trip, he told himself it wasn’t worth bringing it up until the money was secured and he’d signed the contract.

Now, the contract is signed, the first grant is secured—Patrick’s even _quit his job_ —and he still hasn’t said anything. Nor has he said any outright lies. It’s almost disturbing how easy it’s been. He just says he has a lot of work to do and she leaves him to it. It makes sense, he can’t remember the last time he actually talked to her about his work, but it leaves a sick feeling in his stomach that he can’t get rid of, even with all this new positivity.

The other issue is that it’s not just his mood and his energy levels that have kicked into a new gear: it’s also his libido. He told himself it’s not that weird to get turned on overhearing two people have sex, but that excuse is harder to sell to himself when he’s still humming with low level arousal weeks later. He’s always had a low sex drive and been fine with that, but now he’s getting horny all the time. Which should be great, he’s got a gorgeous woman he lives with to work it off with, except the one time they’ve had sex since his trip to meet David left him feeling nauseous after, despite the fact his orgasm came easier and harder than it had in years.

It’s not that the sex disgusted him. Rachel is funny and pretty and he’s always been able to enjoy making her feel good when he needed to. It’s that he felt like he was using her. Because he keeps trying to pretend otherwise, but he knows his new-found libido really has nothing to do with her. All of which means he’s gotten very good at jerking off silently in the shower while keeping his mind perfectly blank.

It’s also why he’s currently staring into his closet trying to decide on an outfit to wear to take her on a date, while feeling three steps away from a panic attack. His mood lifting has made him aware of how much he’s _missed_ Rachel, despite living with her. They barely ever laugh together any more, or even talk, and have so thoroughly fallen into a routine that half the time they don’t even discuss which TV show they’ll spend each evening sitting in front of while staring at their phones. So, he’s planned a date, just a nice dinner and a walk through a park they’ve walked through a thousand times. He’s been looking forward to it, even though it means he’ll probably be up late afterwards working on the system he's setting up for inventory management.

The panic set in when he wasn’t sure which jacket to choose and had, without thinking, pulled out his phone to ask David’s opinion. He’d only seen two of David’s outfits, but from them, as well as from speaking to him, he knows that David always dresses deliberately. He’s thought too many times about David’s clothes on the day Patrick spent in Schitt’s Creek. The soft sweater, paired with white jeans that weren’t made for kneeling, and then the intense sexuality of the outfit from that evening, an outfit Patrick now suspects was chosen specifically to _meet_ with Sebastien after the bar.

He and David have been in almost constant contact, with texts and phone calls, and even the emails that David is coming to accept have a use for business communication. David knows he’s engaged, Patrick even talked to him about Rachel that one time. Except he’s never mentioned her to him since, and it’s not until this moment he realises he’s been avoiding it.

The other layer of panic is that, despite the fact he will be making a choice from a wardrobe full of clothes Rachel has seen all of a dozen times, he has some stupid idea that if David helps, she’ll be able to tell. Like somehow he’ll end up with some combination of his collection of pants and shirts and blazers that Rachel will just _know_ he could never come up with. It’s ridiculous and possibly offensive in some nebulous way he can’t name, leaving him frozen with his phone in his hand for an unknown amount of time.

It’s the phone that breaks him out of it. It buzzes with a message that he opens before he even realises he’s doing it. It is, unsurprisingly, from David. When he reads the text Patrick laughs and feels his anxiety lift momentarily, which is probably not great for the overall life-panic situation, but he’ll take it.

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Fri Jun 11** 6:12PM **David Rose:** How much cuticle cream does a person buy in a month?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I don’t think I’ve ever used cuticle cream.  
  
**David Rose:** Well that's the opposite of helpful  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I think Rachel has some but I’m not sure it’s something she buys as often as monthly, if that helps? I feel like it takes her a year to go through anything like that.  
  


The knot in his stomach unties a little more at writing that, breaking this silence about her that he had inadvertently been keeping. 

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Fri Jun 11** 6:14PM **David Rose:** That is disappointing, but useful  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** You figuring out stock levels?  
  
**David Rose:** I am and it's the worst  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** You know I think we should keep things relatively light until after we’ve opened, we’ll be able to judge better then.  
  
**David Rose:** Yes, but I don’t want us to run out in the meantime. Erika makes the cream to order so we can’t restock it as quickly as some things.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** That’s a good point.  
  
**David Rose:** Is there any chance you’re doing anything even vaguely interesting you could distract me with  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’m pretty sure I should feel insulted by your phrasing there but I think you might be quoting me.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’m trying to decide on what to wear for date night tonight.  
  


Patrick’s glad he asked, because somehow the idea of choosing what to wear still seems insurmountable even now that he’s less anxious. Calling it ‘date night’ hopefully makes it sound like going out for a meal with his fiancée is the normal part of his life it should be. It also cools some of the vague guilt that rises up when he thinks too much about David and his clothes. The gap before David’s next reply is a bit longer than before, but Patrick tries not to read into it. 

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Fri Jun 11** 6:19PM **David Rose:** Oooh, is it some sort of anniversary?   
  
**Patrick Brewer:** No anniversary, just dinner, maybe a walk after.  
  
**David Rose:** Hm okay, casual dinner-date outfit needed. I don’t know enough about your wardrobe, what are we working with?  
  


***

It’s nice, taking time to really talk to Rachel. She tells him all about her latest work project; she’s managed to get funding for a lecture series he didn’t even know she was working on. It makes him realise that as busy as he’s been, she’s been working on her own stuff, too. He feels kind of shitty for how much time he’s spent thinking of his life as boring, when he hadn’t even tried to find out about all the interesting stuff Rachel’s been doing. 

It would be the perfect time to bring up Rose Apothecary and yet he keeps sidestepping any time they come close to talking about his work. It’s so stupid, because the longer this goes the worse it will be to have not told her, and Patrick’s never thought of himself as cruel. It’s this thought on his mind, when Rachel teases him about how he always orders the tiramisu, even though he’ll complain about the caffeine keeping him awake later. Not talking to her about this is _cruel_.

“I have some news to tell you,” Patrick says while they’re waiting for their desserts, trying to keep his voice light. 

Rachel’s face flashes deeply serious before she puts on a smile he knows is forced. “What’s up?”

Patrick explains about meeting David by chance (he doesn’t say how), how great his business idea was, how Patrick couldn’t help but want to be a part of it. Rachel’s unreadable for most of it, though she laughs at the right points when Patrick talks about some of the more outlandish products David’s planning on selling.

He finishes by saying he’d helped David out with getting a grant so he’s planning on shifting to working on the store almost full time, topping it up with consultancy work. He doesn’t say he’s already tendered his resignation, or how shocked his manager had been by it.

“Wow, Patrick. That’s… incredible,” Rachel says, managing to sound sincere while her eyes don’t hide how hurt she is.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about it. I guess I just didn’t want to jinx it?” Patrick’s told himself this was the reason so many times he almost believes it himself.

“Right, yeah. That makes sense.”

It doesn’t really, but luckily at that point their desserts arrive and they focus on eating. Patrick forces himself to finish his entire tiramisu, even though his stomach now feels too heavy with anxiety for that much dairy.

Patrick checks his phone while Rachel’s in the restroom after they pay. He has a message from David, which gives him more of a thrill than such a common occurrence should.

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Fri Jun 11** 8:22PM **David Rose:** I hope your date is going well because so far my evening consists of my mother’s complete re-enactment of the time that Carrie Fisher stole her role in the original Broadway cast of Agnes of God  
  
**Fri Jun 11** 8:57PM **Patrick Brewer:** That sounds pretty great to me.  
  
**David Rose:** You may say that, but I’ve already heard it a thousand times  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Ah, I’ve been there. I’ve heard the story of my dad catching a bass too big to fit in the cooler well over a thousand times and that one doesn’t even involve one of Darth Vader’s kids.  
  
**David Rose:** Ew  
  
**David Rose:** Why are you texting me anyway, I hope you aren’t checking your phone during a date  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Don’t worry, just while she’s freshening up.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Hope you enjoy the rest of your evening!  
  


He hits send just as Rachel gets back to the table and puts his phone away. She gives him the sort of very low pressure ‘anything interesting?’ look he’s been ignoring a lot of lately.

“Just replying to a text from David.”

Her smile in response is small, but seems genuine, before turning teasing. “What, he can’t let you off work for one night?”

Patrick grins perhaps too big at the joke, glad the mood has lightened. “Ha, nothing like that, he was just asking how the date was going.”

“Oh, you told him we were going out?”

After his bizarre panic about it earlier, it’s strangely easy to say, “He helped me decide what to wear.”

Rachel gives a wry look at his outfit, one very similar to what he’s worn for pretty much every date they’ve had for a decade, and Patrick laughs. “Yeah, I didn’t exactly give him much to work with.”

Rachel laughs, too, and when they leave the restaurant she tucks her arm into his elbow, like she’s done so many times before.

They take a familiar path through a park. It’s still pretty light out in the evenings at this time of year and they aren’t the only couple around. They don’t say much, but Patrick feels like Rachel’s building up to something. It’s not long before she pulls him over to sit down on a bench in front of the small lake where they’ve had plenty of their intense conversations before. There’s something about sitting next to each other looking at something beautiful that makes it easier.

“I want to be really mad at you.”

Some of the tension in Patrick’s body eases, because if she’s saying that it means she isn’t. “You’d have every right to be, it was stupid to not tell you earlier.”

“That it was,” she says and he glances over to see the smirk he expects on her face. 

“So why aren’t you mad?”

Rachel looks out on the water for a long time before she answers. “You know, a couple months ago I thought you were going to leave?”

Patrick’s not surprised to hear that because he very nearly did. Everything was just so overwhelming and he felt like he could hardly breathe. Then his aunt had sprained her ankle, and he'd volunteered to help her out with some things around the house while she recovered. It had given him enough of a focus that he hadn't thought about leaving so much anymore. He doesn’t answer, because he knows it wasn’t really a question.

“And then things suddenly seemed like they were getting better. You were busy, but you were actually smiling again. Except you were on your phone all the fucking time, every time you thought I wasn’t looking.”

Patrick knows what she’s about to say right before she says it and he silently begs her not to.

“I thought you’d met someone else.”

It’s a shot to the gut, her saying it that way. It would be so much easier if she’d said, ‘I thought you were cheating on me’ because he isn’t, he wouldn’t. But… _I thought you’d met someone else._

“Oh,” is all he can manage.

“God, Patrick, I want to be mad but I’m just so fucking relieved that you’re just excited about having a new friend, and a project to work on you actually give a shit about.” Rachel sounds relieved, but Patrick feels sick, what she said ringing in his head. 

_I thought you’d met someone else._

He turns around and hugs her, because that’s what he should do, right? Rachel clutches him back and it’s only when he feels tears on his neck he realises that she’s crying. It’s only when he tries to breathe through his nose, and can’t, that he realises he is, too.

“I am so sorry I made you feel that way, Rachel.” That’s honest, and he’s glad he can give her that much because he has no idea what else to say right now.

Rachel takes a deep breath and pushes back so she can meet his eye. “I can’t go through that again. If we’re doing this for real, getting married and not falling back into our patterns, I need you to be willing to have actual conversations with me about what’s going on in your life.”

Patrick nods, tries to think of anything he can say. “You deserve to be treated better than I’ve been treating you.”

“I should have tried more as well, I just gave up.”

Patrick shakes his head. “This isn’t on you.”

Rachel rolls her eyes, “Well, it takes two to tango, buddy.”

Patrick huffs out a laugh because that’s what she expects. Rachel kisses him lightly and kissing her back is the sort of ingrained instinct that he can act on even when half his brain is screaming at him.

***

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sat Jun 12** 2:24PM **David Rose:** There’s a mistake on the profit margin spreadsheet  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** What is it?  
  
**David Rose:** You didn’t account for combining the gas mileage cost for the vendors in the Elmington area, they agreed we can do joint pick up for them.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Well damn, you’re right.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Why didn’t you fix it?  
  
**David Rose:** No way am I going to risk touching your delicate balance of formulae, I’d probably accidentally delete the whole thing  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I think you underestimate yourself, David.  
  
**David Rose:** You’d be the first to say that  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Well, you caught my mistake so you must have some idea what you’re doing.  
  
**David Rose:** Maybe, but I’m going to need you to explain the point of this process diagram again, my eyes glaze over by the time we hit the second branch  
  


***

Patrick spends so much time trying not to think about what Rachel had said in the park it doesn’t even occur to him that what he really has to worry about is the weekly Sunday Family Lunch. It’s something they’ve done all his life, his parents, usually at least one of their siblings, and with them Patrick’s cousins. Now it might include the cousin’s partners and kids as the family continues to grow. 

He’s often thought it unfair that his cousins might skip any given week, depending on their plans, but because his parent’s host, Patrick is _always_ required to attend. He's missed the occasional lunches, but it always results in detailed questioning and him scrambling to come up with a solid excuse. So it’s actually easier to fly under the radar if he’s there, rather than give them a reason to poke at him.

Or, it’s usually easy, apart from times like now, where Rachel has made it impossible to fly under the radar. “Come on, Patrick, you should let your family know your news!”

Patrick experiences a horrible, stupid split-second where he thinks she means the news that keeps screaming at him, the news he hasn’t been able to confront, but no, of course not. 

“Oh, it’s not that important,” Patrick says, which is maybe the first definite one hundred percent lie he’s told this whole time. Of course it’s important. 

“Not like you to miss a chance to show off,” his cousin Steve says, with that teasing-asshole Brewer grin. 

If their parents weren’t there Patrick would flip him off, but as it is he just rolls his eyes. It’s true he doesn’t shy away from performing and public speaking, but this is a personal announcement and that’s a whole different ball game.

Rachel looks at him pointedly. “Hey now, you’ve been talking about becoming self employed for years.”

It’s true, and yet he didn’t really think of it as part of that. He’s said it for years because he knows how much money people can make as freelance business consultants, and so he felt like he should do it. It’s not quite the same as taking on some freelance work to subsidise being able to quit your job and do paperwork for a store in a different part of the province.

“You packing in the old day job, Patty?” His dad looks surprised and proud, which makes Patrick feel all the more like crap for not sharing this with anyone.

“That’s right, I’m actually investing in a store opening in Elm County.”

There’s a lot of questions, which he answers, and it’s not so bad after all. There’s something so exciting about getting to tell them about David and how he has a vision for the store that Patrick believed in as soon as he knew the details. The whole idea that he’ll be working from home, for a store hours away, is a pretty alien idea to them. While most of his family seem bemused by how far away the store is, Patrick is occupied with thoughts of David.

His cousin Caitlin, who is seventeen and planning on becoming a software developer, adds in, “Actually, loads of people work remotely these days at the big tech companies. I heard even working at Google doesn’t mean you can actually afford California rent these days.” She shoots Patrick a grin and he’s so grateful for her sticking up for him, even as the idea of comparing David’s very specific General Store to Google seems ridiculous. 

The rent in Schitt’s Creek is actually very cheap. Not that Patrick’s looked.

Patrick’s about to try and change the subject when his uncle Bill says, “Wait, but how did you even find out about this place?”

Rachel’s giving him a look like she’s realising he skipped that part with her too, so Patrick groans and says, “Okay, but trust me I already know this sounds ridiculous.”

He talks about the wrong number call, that it wasn’t too hard to find the right forms on Google to help out. He says that David left him some voicemails with more details, but leaves out them being sent while David was high. He doesn’t want to embarrass David like that, not just because of how it might reflect on Patrick for jumping into business with him.

To Patrick’s surprise, his family’s response to this is laughing and teasing him about always being such a Good Samaritan. It turns out, telling his family about opening the store with David is actually a lot less stressful than when they bug him about when he and Rachel are actually going to start wedding planning.

“You never could find someone else’s problem you didn’t want to fix,” his dad says, fondly. 

After the meal, everyone splits off to chat. In the living room the TV is on, with a Stanley cup analysis and highlights show for everyone to criticise. Patrick needs a bit of space, so he offers to make a round of tea and coffee. There’s a piece of paper stuck to the cupboard with everyone’s preferences, but it’s getting a bit ragged, so his mom’s probably going to replace it soon. He’s getting all the mugs in place, split up so he remembers how many of each drink, when Caitlin comes in.

They work together silently for a bit, like they’ve done before. He was still at university when she became his hot drinks assistant, so by now they have a rhythm down.

“Your store sounds really cool, Patrick.”

He smiles down at the mug he’s putting a scoop of instant coffee into. David would probably be horrified at Patrick’s family’s coffee habits, but at least they moved to the _fancy_ instant a few years ago. “Thanks, Kiddo, it really is. Anything new happening with you?”

Caitlin’s the youngest of Patrick’s generation of cousins and none of them let her forget it, but when Patrick glances over there’s a serious set to her jaw that makes him realise how close she is to adulthood.

“Actually, yeah, I, uh...” She takes a deep breath. “I have a girlfriend.”

Patrick feels his face freeze and he tries to stop it from showing any surprise. Caitlin’s always been more focused on school and the internet than anything else; some of the family would tease her, asking when she'd start dating, but Patrick never had. He’d seen how uncomfortable it made her, even though she played it off.

Caitlin’s staring down at the counter and Patrick realises he needs to respond, to say the right thing. The thought crosses his mind, _What would you want someone to say to you,_ and that helps, apart from all the ways it doesn’t. “That’s awesome, Caitlin. Tell me about her?”

She smiles and he relaxes a bit. Caitlin starts explaining how she met the girl online, but she actually lives in nearby Cambridge. As she talks her smile turns into a huge grin, like she just can’t help herself. She’s usually not nearly this much of a chatterbox and it makes something warm light in Patrick’s chest to see her like this, while he goes back to fixing drinks.

“She sounds great,” he says, hoping he sounds as genuinely happy for her as he feels.

Caitlin nods seriously. “She is! I just… my parents know, and they’re cool with it and everything, but as soon as I tell the rest of the family it’ll become this big _thing_ , you know?”

Patrick nods, wryly, even as his heart pounds and he fights to sound casual. “Yeah, I get that. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone unless you want me to.”

Caitlin gives him a hug. “Thanks, Patrick. I mean, you can like, tell Rachel and stuff, I trust her and don’t want you to have to keep a secret.”

Patrick cannot even begin to unpack that idea, but he makes sure to meet her eyes when he tells her, “I’m really happy for you.”

Caitlin waves him off. “Ugh, I get it, you read the ‘how to respond when someone comes out to you’ handbook.”

“Is that a real thing?” He teases, while part of him hopes it is; then you could just give it to someone and you wouldn’t even need to say anything, because the book would tell them.

Caitlin just rolls her eyes. 

Just as they’ve finished making all the drinks and Patrick’s about to pick up a tray of mugs to carry them through, she stops him. “Do you think they’ll feel like I’m lying to them because I’m not telling them yet?”

That makes Patrick’s gut ache, but this isn’t about him. “No. I think— I _hope_ — they’ll be happy for you, however long it takes until you decide you want them to know.”

Caitlin blinks like she’s trying not to cry, but being in their family, of course she turns it into a joke. “They shouldn’t be surprised anyway, _someone_ had to be the gay cousin.”

There is no way Patrick can respond to that, so he just picks up his tray and gestures with his head for her to get the other one. “Come on, we need to get caffeine into my dad before he falls asleep on the couch.”

***

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sun Jun 13** 9:31PM **Patrick Brewer:** My cousin came out to me today.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Wait, shit. Is it outing someone if you tell someone else who doesn’t know them?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I don’t even know why I said that, please ignore those messages.  
  
**David Rose:** That depends, how many cousins do you have? If it’s only one, then you maybe outed them a little, but I’m pretty sure informing your queer friend as soon as you learn about any other queer people is a straight tradition.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Fuck, I really didn’t mean it that way. I’m honestly really proud of her and I can’t tell anyone else.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I have 12 cousins, by the way. If that helps.  
  
**David Rose:** My response was probably a little harsh. I may have been down the “my friend/cousin/drycleaner is gay, please tell me how to cope with this radical information” path a few times  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** That sucks, I promise that’s not what I was doing.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** It’s just… she’s got a girlfriend and she obviously likes her so much and she’s so brave.  
  
**David Rose:** It kind of sounds like you wanted to brag  
  
**David Rose:** That sounds bad, I didn’t mean it in a bad way  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Ha, that’s okay, you might be right. It feels a bit like when she won the science fair and I was so excited I told the mail carrier.  
  
**David Rose:** Well, in that case, I think it’s probably okay to tell me about her.  
  


***

Something gets knocked loose in Patrick that weekend. What Rachel said after their date, getting to talk to people about the store and feel how thrilled he is when he can tell people how brilliant David is, and most of all talking to Caitlin—seeing her be so brave and happy—combine forces to let him see himself clearly for the first time in his life. Caitlin told him he could tell Rachel, because he shouldn’t have to keep anything from her, but Rachel isn’t the person he finds himself wanting to tell everything to. Keeping things from her is second nature, at this point. 

The thing is, Patrick has lived a lot of his life feeling like something was off in some way, but he mostly tried to ignore it. Sure, there were times he’s tried to figure it out—when he and Rachel had just broken up, _again_ , or when they announced his engagement and he felt nothing but dread. It was just so much easier to push his anxiety down and hope that would make all the uncertainty go away.

Having some part of himself _actually_ figure it out is much, much harder to ignore. Ever since Rachel said, _I thought you’d met someone else,_ it’s like some barrier built in his brain had finally collapsed. If David were a woman, who he had met and got so invested in, who he wanted to talk to constantly, who endlessly fascinated him—and _oh yeah_ , who overhearing a sexual encounter kicked his entire sex drive into action—he wouldn’t be confused.

He could try to tell himself it’s just the way you feel about a new friend, except he likes Stevie a lot too, and this isn’t like that. He _has_ felt this before, though. He felt it with his best friend at university, Tom, who Patrick had lost touch with when the guy got a girlfriend Patrick disliked for no discernible reason. He’d felt it with a player on his high school baseball team, who was older but always willing to help Patrick at practice. There were men he’d known who he was so excited to be around it made him dizzy.

It’s an inconvenient time to be going through this realisation. Patrick would hope that thinking about tying off all loose ends at his old job, while trying to make sure everything is in place for the store to open the week after, would be enough to put these thoughts off for a while, but even that can’t seem to make them stop.

Part of him has been working this out for a long time, he now realises, when he thinks about all sorts of moments he’s glossed over in his mind. He feels so fucking stupid he wasn’t willing to look this in the face before, that it’s taken thirty years to understand.

It’s not too unusual for Patrick to still be awake on his computer when Rachel goes to bed, especially recently, but he still feels guilty about it that night. Once he’s sure that Rachel is asleep, he lets himself imagine the idea of dating a man. It’s incredible the way it makes his heart pound at the mere thought of it.

How has this never occurred to him before? If he’s being truly honest with himself, he’s recognised that he could find men physically attractive, in an abstract sort of way, but never has he stopped to actually consider the concept of a _relationship._ Much as David is a catalyst for this realisation, he doesn’t feel like he can go there right now, even in his mind, so he thinks of Tom.

Tom had been taller than Patrick, with one of those faces people would say had a lot of ‘character’. They’d met in their first year of University and became pretty much inseparable. Patrick lets himself imagine what might have happened if he’d asked Tom out and he’d said yes. For a moment it's almost overwhelming, how good it feels to imagine that version of his life. He imagines kissing Tom and, yes, the idea immediately turns him on, but it’s not just that. 

Patrick has long since come to terms with having lost that friendship. But the sense of yearning he feels when he considers what could have happened if he hadn’t been with Rachel, and instead, if he had kissed Tom and Tom had kissed him back is… It’s so strong that he feels tears prick in his eyes and he desperately wishes he could put all of this back in the box where he’s stored it all his life. 

Patrick had played Oberon in a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream towards the end of his time in University. The director had said that the most important thing to remember about the character was the extent of his passion and love for his wife. He may have been playing a trick on her, but he was also fiercely devoted to her. Patrick had wondered if he’d ever had that kind passion for anyone, or if he’d ever find it. Whenever he'd had tried to draw on his feelings for Rachel, as Oberon, they always felt too comfortable, too tame. He'd told himself that’s part of what he liked about their relationship, except they broke up for the third time by the play’s closing.

His half-remembered feelings for an old friend aren’t a burning fire of passion, of course not, but there’s _something_ about it, something unlike what he feels for Rachel. Tom had started seriously dating a girl from one of his classes around the same time as the play, and Patrick couldn’t really pinpoint what, but something about her always bugged the hell out of him. They were all over each other all the time, which meant that Tom had less time for him. It’s not like Patrick had a leg to stand on to complain, as he’d been with Rachel most of their time as friends. Except it had never really been an issue for Patrick to divide up his time between his friends and his girlfriend, whereas Tom seemed to want to be around this girl _all the time_

Looking back, he can admit to himself that he was jealous because he’d been attracted to Tom, but it never even crossed his mind at the time. He feels like a dick, for the fact that he can’t even remember the girlfriend’s name, over whom he’d lost a valuable friend, and, much as he tried to be polite, she must have known he didn’t like her. All these years later, and with a fresh perspective, Patrick is seeing it all so differently now.

Patrick shuts himself in the room furthest from the bedroom he shares with Rachel and lets himself imagine a whole different life; imagines a life with Tom and then with other men. He thinks of things he has always locked away; how much he enjoys the way baseball players look in their uniforms, or how he’d got so obsessed with Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge that Rachel had insisted he dress as him for Halloween, but it was never that he wanted to _be_ him. He puts together all these pieces of his life, and there’s a spark in them that he has never realised was there. 

Eventually he touches himself and he’s hardly even thinking of sex, though he thinks of that, too, feels how hard he is and imagines touching another man this way. Mostly, however, he’s just trying to imagine that whole different life for himself. When he comes, it leaves him feeling ecstatic—like a weight has been lifted—and yet utterly terrified at the same time.

The issue, of course, is Rachel. Who he cares about so, so deeply, but has never made his heart fizz the way he’s on the edge of acknowledging that David does. She’s always been there for him and being with her has always been easy, until it wasn’t and they would break up for a while, before starting it again. With Rachel he knows what he’s doing, and seeing how well she fits in with his family, it’s so easy to picture a life for them together, even if the thought of that life has so often made his thoughts swell with panic and dread.

As much as Patrick would very much like to keep ignoring all this, he told Rachel she deserves better, and he knows she does. Part of him would like to believe that even if he feels this way, he could let it lie in a quiet corner that he knows about, but doesn’t touch. That he could keep building his life with her, just like they imagined it as teenagers. But the rest of him knows that he can’t. Rachel should get to be with someone whose heart pounds when she’s near. She deserves the sort of uncontrollable grin that Caitlin had when talking about her girlfriend. He doesn’t know if he can break Rachel’s heart for his own sake, but he knows now that he cannot be that someone for her. If breaking her heart is what he needs to do, for her to someday be as happy and loved as she deserves? In that case, he really doesn’t have a choice.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Patrick comes to Schitt's Creek for the opening of Rose Apothecary.

**iMessage:** Stevie  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 10:58AM **Stevie:** Why didn’t you tell me that Patrick’s coming today?  
  
**David:** Why didn’t I what now???  
  
**Stevie:** I just got a booking reservation through from him until Sunday  
  
**David:** He didn’t tell me, I thought he wasn’t coming until Wednesday to help with the last set up before we open  
  
**Stevie:** Maybe it’s a different Patrick Brewer?  
  
**David:** Sure, that seems likely!   
  
**Stevie:** It could happen  
  
**David:** I thought you were text buddies with him anyway, shouldn’t he be telling you when he’s coming  
  
**Stevie:** Nah, we only text embarrassing things about you  
  
**David:** Charming  
  


**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 11:03AM **David:** Are you coming into town today? I thought you weren’t getting here until Wednesday  
  


David immediately regrets sending such a needy message. Patrick doesn’t have to tell him his every move and he’s allowed to come to town whenever he wants. It’s just weird for him not to text about it. David really wants to follow it up by taking it all back, but that would probably just make him sound more weird and desperate.

David distracts himself by working on that day’s checklist. They each have one per day in the lead up to the store opening. It’s soothing to be able to do something and tick it off, know that it’s one step closer to this being real. He still jumps to look at his phone the second it buzzes.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 11:56AM **Patrick:** Fuck sorry I didn’t think about Stevie noticing, I spoke to some guy when I booked in. I was going to text you when I stopped for gas.  
  
**Patrick:** Which is now  
  
**Patrick:** I just didn’t know what to say  
  
**David:** I’m not your keeper, you don’t need to tell me every time you plan to enter the bounds of Schitt’s Creek  
  
**Patrick:** Well, you do own the place, doesn’t seem unreasonable.  
  
**David:** Yeah, I don’t think that’s how that works  
  
**Patrick:** One day you’re going to have to tell me how it actually does work.  
  
**Patrick:** Not now, though, there’s a line at the pump  
  
**Patrick:** I kind of really don’t want to have to say this out loud but feel like I should tell you so   
Patrick is typing...

David waits, watching the little dots appear and disappear for a minute before he has to ask, his mind going wild with all the things that Patrick could be about to say. 

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 12:00PM **David:** What?  
  
**Patrick:** Me and Rachel broke up  
  
**Patrick:** I don’t think I want to talk about it? I have no idea.  
  
**Patrick:** See you in a couple hours.  
  


David stares at his phone in shock for a while before he realises he should probably say _something_. He spends too long starting and restarting before hitting send. 

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 12:03PM **David:** Drive safe. I won’t mention it until you do, I promise, but I hope you’re okay.  
  


Ugh, is that a thing people say? His New York friends mostly dealt with David’s break ups by ignoring him until he stopped having visible emotions, while he ate junk food and watched rom coms alone, or by getting him fucked up on pills and fucked by someone new, none of which were probably what a nice person like Patrick would do or want. Well, maybe he’d like junk food and movies, it’s not just David who does that, right? David usually tries not to think about his unfortunate living situation, it is what it is, but not even being able to offer his friend a place to eat too much food and watch attractive people fall in love when he’s going through a break up is _really_ shitty.

Patrick will have his own motel room, but really any motel room just feels too sad for this. He remembers Alexis asking him for a hug after she broke up with Mutt. He could do that? Thinking about hugging Patrick means too many feelings that are incredibly inappropriate here and that’s probably not what straight guys do, anyway.

David realises he's standing in the middle of the store with his phone in his hand over-thinking this and shakes himself out of it enough to call in backup.

**iMessage:** Stevie  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 12:13PM **David:** Are you free tonight?  
  
**Stevie:** Depends, why are you asking?  
  
**David:** Patrick and Rachel broke up  
  
**Stevie:** Oh fuck  
  


David groans, feeling like such an idiot. He got all pissy at Patrick for telling David that some random cousin he’d never meet is queer. Then proceeds to tell Stevie, who Patrick actually knows and is going to see, something personal about Patrick the second he found out. He just… really feels like he needs a buffer, even if that buffer is no better at dealing with human emotions than he is. 

**iMessage:** Stevie  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 12:16PM **David:** I now realise he didn’t actually say if I could tell you but I have no idea what nice people do when they have break ups and I’m kind of freaking out  
  
**Stevie:** You guys could come over here? I have weed and beer  
  
**David:** Wow I spend one night in your bed and your apartment is a social hotspot  
  
**Stevie:** Don’t get used to it but I’m trying not to get high at work any more  
  
**David:** So professional!  
  
**Stevie:** 🖕  
  
**Stevie:** Or I could leave you to deal with him by yourself  
  
**David:** He said he doesn’t know if he wants to talk about it. I told him I wouldn’t mention it unless he did first, maybe he’s fine!  
  
**Stevie:** Yes, that seems totally likely  
  
**David:** Why must feelings exist?  
  
**Stevie:** I ask myself this every day  
  
**David:** Ugh!   
  


David rubs his hand over his face and tries to think. He’s glad it seems like Stevie will help, at least. He wants to be a good friend, but there’s a part of him that’s arguing strongly for just ignoring it and hoping it goes away. Which might be what Patrick wants?

The idea of Patrick all sad and alone in his motel room is too tragic, though. David doesn’t want to crowd him, but maybe he should just start off simple.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 12:25PM **David:** I know I said I wouldn’t mention it until you do so this is the last time, but I told Stevie, sorry. I’m in the store if you want something to do when you check in, I’ll let you share my to do list.  
  


The second his thumb hits send he regrets everything about his phrasing. He was trying to make a joke, lighten the mood, but reading it back it feels stupid and flirty, like he’s some predator just waiting for Patrick to be single before he strikes. So gross. Plus, he hates having to admit he fucked up, but Patrick will see Stevie at check in and she’s a terrible actress.

Obsessing isn’t helpful when David is well aware that Patrick's the kind of guy who doesn’t even use hands-free— _It’s actually as dangerous as drunk driving,_ he’d informed David—so there won’t be a response until he parks. He puts on some music to drown out his thoughts and gets back into the soothing rhythm of labelling bottles.

***

It takes a while before he manages to stop checking his phone constantly, but eventually he settles into the rhythm. There’s something soothing about the task. Simple and repetitive, but requiring concentration if he’s going to make sure the labels aren’t crooked or wrinkled. Alexis complains every time he asks her to help with it, but somehow David doesn’t mind this task so much. These are beautiful things that people have made and allowed him to put his name on, how could he resent the time it takes?

At least, that’s his excuse for why he jumps and nearly drops a bottle of sea buckthorn massage oil when the store bell rings out over the sound of Tina singing about hitching a ride on the riverboat queen. He whirls around and sees Patrick looking amused. He’s wearing an outfit very similar to his last visit, but David isn’t surprised, especially having now seen pictures of Patrick’s whole wardrobe. It is ridiculous how handsome this man can look in such mediocre clothes, but that’s a thought to deal with later.

“Sorry for scaring you.”

David rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t scared, I was startled; those are totally different things!”

Patrick nods seriously. “And you’re sure you weren’t shocked?”

“I was _barely_ perturbed.”

Patrick breaks and laughs first and David tries to hide his grin at getting the win.

“You mentioned you might be up for sharing your to-do list?” Patrick asks lightly, but there is something in his eyes that makes David think offering him something to keep busy is the right move.

“Mmhm, absolutely! I’ve nearly finished labelling up this box, but you could help me with the others?”

“Sounds great, just show me how.”

It’s strangely easy to work with Patrick, considering they’ve spent time together in person only once before. After Patrick’s last visit, David had tried to convince himself that he’d built up the feeling of comfort and safety while working together in his mind. But having Patrick here, now, the sense of rightness feels even stronger this time. They don’t talk much, just steadily getting work done. It’s only when Patrick hums along that David realises his music is still playing and that might be kind of rude without asking. 

“Oh, I could change the music if you like? I have other playlists.”

Patrick shakes his head. “No, this is great, I appreciate you letting me turn up here uninvited.”

David frowns. “It’s your store, too. You don’t need an invitation.” It’s ridiculous how he can go from feeling so easy with Patrick to feeling like a nervous wreck in a second, but hopefully he sounds confident enough for Patrick to believe him.

“I’m the numbers guy; I know this is your space.”

Apparently David needs to do something to convince Patrick he really means it.

***

Later in the afternoon, David makes an excuse about having something to do for Alexis and heads to Ray’s house. He hasn’t actually been here since the day Ray had to cancel his appointment, but he’s feeling pretty grateful for that now. 

Ray smiles brightly when he opens the door. “David Rose, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I heard that you have a key cutting machine?”

“Ah yes, of course!” Ray says, gesturing him inside. “Now, will you be in need of any energy healing alongside this? I have some very generous packages.”

“Pardon?”

Ray looks at David like he thinks he’s kind of an idiot. “You know, ‘Ray’s Keys and Reiki’, my key-cutting and hands-on healing business!”

David suddenly understands why Stevie didn’t try to get anything from him when he’d asked her where she got her keys cut for the motel. “Just the keys, please.” He'd dated a woman who practised reiki for a month in his twenties before she told him his energy was ‘hard to work with’ and he’d never trusted it since.

He ends up telling Ray far more than he means to about the keys and about Patrick. There’s something about his cheerful smile that makes David babble. Luckily, he has a client coming in soon so the whole process doesn’t take nearly as long as it could.

David had planned to give Patrick the key as soon as he got back, but he feels suddenly shy when he gets back to the store. Patrick’s wearing an expression of intense concentration, but when the bell rings he looks up and smiles. 

“Everything okay with your sister?” Patrick asks. 

David’s totally forgotten that was his excuse, and automatically says, “Mmhm.” He’d feel silly taking that back, so he decides to leave the key in his pocket for now.

***

As it gets closer to the evening, David starts to wonder how to mention Stevie’s offer for the night casually; he wants to make it clear that if Patrick doesn’t want to it’s totally fine. Just as he’s about to say something, Patrick looks at his phone and smiles in a surprised way that really shouldn’t affect David the way it does. 

“You up for going to Stevie’s place tonight? She says she has weed and beer,” Patrick says, like it’s so easy, like he’s the one doing the inviting.

David is so very grateful he found Stevie Budd. He’d probably be still debating whether mentioning the weed would appeal to Patrick or make him judge them horribly in an hour’s time, if she hadn’t just asked him. “I warn you, it’s shitty weed and even worse beer.”

Patrick smiles a little warmer and David wraps that expression delicately in tissue paper in his mind, so he can savour it later when he needs to. “That sounds perfect.”

They close up the store, pick up food, and it takes no time for them to be sitting on the floor in Stevie’s apartment, passing around a joint and eating pepperoni pizza so greasy it’s probably not safe for human consumption. David tries to be totally casual the first time he hands the joint off to Patrick, but there’s a smirk in Patrick’s mouth that tells him he’s not succeeding. 

He’s definitely not succeeding at _not_ watching as Patrick closes his eyes to take a drag and holds it comfortably before slowly blowing out the smoke. David really wishes he were already high, so he could blame that for how sexy he finds it. Thankfully, Stevie kicks him and jerks his attention away. She gives him a look and David tries to school his expression to a neutral place before Patrick looks back over, laughter in his eyes.

“Okay, you are totally waiting for me to freak out over how edgy this is, aren’t you?”

David makes a ‘how dare you’ noise but it’s maybe a bit too loud to be convincing. “Why would you say that?” He says, trying to sound neutral because yes, part of him absolutely was thinking that.

“You’re staring around me like any minute now I’m going to notice this is illegal and call the police.”

Stevie giggles as she takes the joint from Patrick, “You totally are!”

David rolls his eyes, but he’d rather Patrick think that was the whole reason he keeps staring, rather than anything else. “Well, I don’t know! I didn’t think proper people got high.”

“ _Proper_ people?”

David gestures with his pizza. “You know, with the business degree and the office job and the—the—” David stalls out because he was going to say ‘and the fiancée’. One puff of this low-rent weed should not have his tongue this loose.

Patrick’s face falls like he knows exactly what David was going to say and he speaks before David can come up with anything to cover himself. “I clearly don’t have my life as together as you seem to think, David. If you’ll remember, I actually quit the office job for some luxury general store in the middle of nowhere.” He smiles a little and it seems genuine. “But okay, if I’m being honest I haven’t known where to get weed since university, so you kind of got me there.”

David can’t help feeling a little vindicated and shoots Stevie a _told you so_ look, even though he hadn’t actually ever said it. 

They spend a while just eating, drinking, and smoking in relative quiet. Stevie’s playing some instrumental music that David’s pretty sure he should hate, but listening to it kind of feels like floating, so he’ll allow it. 

It’s Patrick who breaks the silence, sometime after they finish a second joint. “Have you ever broken someone’s heart?”

David hates how his eyes immediately dart to Stevie as he remembers her saying she _liked_ him and couldn’t go to New York. That’s not the same thing at all and he looks away as quickly as possible, hoping she didn’t see it. 

“Not in a real way,” he says. “I’m more an expert in the other way around.” It’s hard not to drop a joke, a story that will make people laugh, but he’s floating and fuzzy and that’s not what Patrick needs.

“I did once,” Stevie says and David has to look at her properly, because he’s never heard that from her. “It’s the worst.”

Patrick laughs in a pained way. “It really is.”

It takes this long for the threads to connect in David’s brain and the question is out of his mouth before he can hold it back. “Wait, you broke up with her?” Once he’s realised what he said he adds, “Wait, fuck, I said I wouldn’t make you talk about it—I just thought, with the date?” He takes a breath to try and catch up to his thoughts so they stop spilling out of his mouth. “Fuck, sorry, ignore me.”

Patrick actually seems kind of amused, even though he also looks sad. Stevie has the smile she always wears when she’s enjoying him being a fuck-up; David hates how much he loves that expression on her. 

“David has zero filter when high, you can ignore him,” Stevie says, which is basically what he just said and therefore he can’t even tell her off for it.

“Trust me, I know about this issue,” Patrick says.

David covers his face with his hands remembering those voicemails he sent Patrick, how was it less than two months ago.

“When exactly would you have learned this?” Stevie asks, sounding kind of scandalised.

“Don’t worry, Stevie, I didn’t get high without you.” David says, to tease but also because he kind of thinks it’d upset her if she thought he did. “It was your fault, though, when you told me to call him back about the whole business license thing.”

Stevie laughs with her whole body. “Oh my god, I’m pretty sure I was expecting you to wait until you were sober to call him!”

“That he did not,” Patrick says, that half smile on his face. David waits for him to tell Stevie about all the voicemails, complete his humiliation, but he doesn’t. 

“And you still decided to go into business with him?”

Patrick shrugs, then stretches out his arms like he's just remembered he can move his body. “He has a good business plan.”

David tries not to smile, but if hearing that normally makes him feel happy, when he’s high it makes him feel like there's a bright ball of joy and nerves and anticipation in his chest that wants to burst out of him. 

“That’s what I told him!” Stevie says. She looks so happy that Patrick agrees and David feels such a rush of love for her.

After a bit more quiet Patrick says, “I did though, I broke up with her.” He’s lying on the floor now, not looking at either of them. 

David meets Stevie’s eyes and she shrugs, neither of them are really equipped to know how to respond, but luckily Patrick doesn’t seem to need anything to continue.

“I think I’d feel better about it if I regretted it, but instead I feel guilty for doing it and guilty for being relieved I did.” He sighs. “I feel like a shithead for even saying that.”

“This is the advantage of having friends who don’t know her,” Stevie says. “We can be happy for you doing this, if it was the right choice for you. I’m sure she has other people who can be mad at you for it.”

David didn’t know that Stevie had that sort of wisdom in her.

Patrick looks over and, _oh,_ his face is so open. “So we’re friends?”

Stevie rolls her eyes. “No, you’re just some asshole I let smoke my weed and drink my beer.”

Patrick laughs—there’s a little giggle to it that David’s never heard from him before. He looks at David, like he’s waiting for him to say something.

“Well _obviously_ , we're just business partners—”

“Obviously,” Patrick interrupts in a sarcastic voice, with a ridiculous nod. 

“But yeah, if this makes you happy then that's all that matters.”

Patrick’s eyes shine like he’s going to cry, and when David desperately looks to Stevie for help she looks even more freaked out than he is. It felt like they were doing well with this whole ‘supportive friend’ effort, but crying might go beyond their abilities. 

Luckily, instead of crying, Patrick suddenly gets to his feet, surprisingly gracefully, and starts shaking out parts of his body. “Enough of all that, we should do something!”

David blinks at the sudden mood shift. “Like what exactly?”

Patrick scrunches his face and seems to get a bit lost in his thoughts. “You shouldn’t go for a hike at night time,” he eventually says, as if anyone had mentioned the idea of hiking.

“I’m of the opinion you shouldn’t go on a hike at any time, personally.”

Patrick shakes his head at him. “But you get to see so much cool stuff!”

“Yeah, David, don’t you want to see all the cool nature?” Stevie says with a shit-eating grin.

“I’m good, but maybe _you_ should take Patrick out on a trail while he’s here, you have a whole week,” David replies brightly, calling her bluff.

“Yes, Stevie, you need to show me the best routes!” Patrick is bouncing on his toes slightly, looking at her with such enthusiasm that even _David_ might go hiking, if it was directed at him.

“Not gonna happen, buddy,” Stevie says, with remarkable willpower. 

Patrick frowns and shifts from foot to foot. “So what are we gonna do?”

David shrugs and looks at Stevie. They don’t usually go for _activities,_ both happy to just lay around and talk when they’re high.

“I have Uno?” Stevie says, uncertainly.

***

By the time Stevie kicks them out, Patrick's won three games in a row, but David's pretty certain that he was somehow cheating. They decide to walk back to the motel, rather than trying to wait for the town’s lone taxi. David's mostly glad he didn’t have to convince Patrick not to drive, and Patrick still seems to have some of that nervous energy to burn off. 

They’re about halfway to the motel when Patrick says, “You’re really not going to ask?”

David's been busy trying to remember if he has any snacks to eat once he get back to his room, so he's got very little idea what that could mean. “Ask what?”

“Why I broke up with Rachel.”

David blinks, trying to get his brain to shift into serious mode. “You said you didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it.”

“I guess,” Patrick says, and he sounds a little frustrated.

“Was I supposed to ask? I don’t really know what I’m doing with this.”

“What you’re doing with what?” Patrick actually turns to David when he asks that, looking away from where he’d been steadily staring ahead.

David flails his hands. “With being a supportive friend. My only friend is Stevie and I found out about her last break up after the fact, without even having known she was in a relationship.” There were still two toothbrushes by the sink when they’d arrived tonight, so David’s kind of worried that it had been more serious than she’d let on. It's not like her to be so unwilling to let go.

Patrick manages to both frown and smile at the same time. “Sorry, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

The lingering effects of the night limit the filter on David’s body as well as his words, which is his excuse for grabbing Patrick by his shoulders and stopping him. “You haven’t made me uncomfortable and I want to be there for you, I’m just trying to explain that I’m not very good at it.”

Patrick’s eyes are so big, how had David never realised before? They’re so big and it’s like they’re… shouting at him, telling him how Patrick’s feeling, and it’s almost too much, too sincere. How can anyone have such loud eyes?

“You’re great at it, David,” Patrick says, which should be ridiculous, of course David’s not great at this, but Patrick seems to think it's true. Or at least, the look in his eyes is painfully sincere. 

David wishes he wasn’t holding Patrick’s shoulders so tight because it gives him nowhere else to look but right at Patrick and they are literally talking about his fresh break-up, so wanting to kiss him is incredibly inappropriate. David always wants to make out when he’s high, but it’s been a while since he got high with someone he really wants to kiss even when sober. He’d forgotten the way it increases the urge.

Not that David would admit to wanting to kiss Patrick when sober, of course.

Patrick smiles a little, but his eyes look almost lost and David wants to kiss him so bad he’s seeing things, because no way did those loud eyes dart down to his mouth. 

“We should probably get back to the motel,” he forces himself to say, squeezing Patrick’s shoulders before letting go. 

David makes sure he’s not watching to see whether Patrick’s disappointed or relieved when he does.

They don’t talk the rest of the walk back and yet it feels… nice. Not awkward. It’s weird.

They reach Patrick’s room first and when he’s got the door open David blurts out, “I got you a key.” 

“A key?” Patrick’s expression is so soft; David wants to trace a fingertip across his lips, just a little.

“Well, a set of keys,” he explains, to get back on track. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the three keys, on their complimentary Ray’s Keys and Reiki keychain. David really should have found a nicer one, but he’s spent the day out of sorts. “For the store—for _our_ store. Two for the front door and one for the back.”

“Oh.” Patrick takes the keys gently, like maybe if he moves too fast they’ll disappear.

“I want you to know that you’re always welcome in Schitt’s Creek.” David hopes that Patrick understands that he doesn’t just mean the town or the store, but also David’s life.

Patrick’s eyes twinkle a little, sending a fluttering feeling straight through David. “Are you saying that in your capacity as owner of the town?”

David purses his lips, trying hard to hold back a smile, but he can tell Patrick sees it. He should probably quip back, but he just shakes his head and, before he can overthink it, pulls Patrick into a hug. It’s quick—David needs it to be quick—but not so fast that he doesn’t feel the memory of Patrick’s body pressed against him when he lets go.

“Thank you, David. You’re a good friend,” Patrick says, and thankfully goes immediately into his room, because there is no way for David to respond to that.

After unearthing and eating half a packet of Red Vines, David lies back in bed and realises that he’s used to texting Patrick before he goes to sleep. He didn’t even realise what a habit it was until he’s wondering if it’s weird to text him now. Then he has an idea.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sat Jun 19** 11:41PM **David:** So the great thing about saying this over text is you can choose to ignore it if you didn’t actually want me to ask, so… Why did you break up with Rachel?  
  
**Patrick:** I realised that I could keep trying my whole life, but I was never going to love her the way I wanted to.  
  
**Patrick:** Thanks for asking.  
  
**David:** You’re welcome  
  
**Patrick:** Good night, David  
  
**David:** Good night, Patrick  
  


If David was sober, he'd definitely spend the rest of the night obsessing over what that might mean, but as it is his mind can't hold onto it for long enough to worry. He asked Patrick, and that's what Patrick wanted him to do, so everything is okay. 

***

The next morning, David wakes up to the following messages: 

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sun Jun 20** 9:04AM **Patrick:** Just to let you know, I ran into your sister this morning and she told me you’re not a morning person, so I thought I’d try out my keys and head over to the store early. Hope you don’t mind!  
  


**iMessage:** Alexis  
  
**Sun Jun 20** 9:07AM **Alexis:** OMG David you didn’t mention your business partner was such a cutie!  
  


The idea that Alexis and Patrick met and David has no idea what happened is deeply disturbing. By the time he’s gone through his whole morning routine, his dad is calling the whole family out for the unveiling of a present for Johnny that Moira claims is from all three of them.

When the family portrait is revealed, David is deeply glad Patrick’s not there to see it. There is something viscerally wrong about this piece of their old life being here. Looking at it now, David doesn’t really understand how he used to live with such ostentatious displays of wealth so casually. It is exactly the sort of hideous nouveau riche he'd loved mocking people for and he'd never even thought about it.

Things at the store are okay, but David’s so used to working alone. He didn’t consider that Patrick being there would mean being called out on things like taking juice without paying, or not having the lights up yet. Patrick’s called him out on things before and they’ve discussed why David using products without paying isn’t okay, but it’s different in person, with the tension of launch coming up.

David feels kind of possessive, actually, now that Patrick’s bringing his ideas about a big launch and how things should be done. He’s glad Patrick is here, but having someone else in the store not deferring to him on decisions makes him feel kind of itchy. If Patrick’s saying these things maybe none of the decisions David’s been making are right? 

Patrick reluctantly agrees to go ahead with the soft-launch, though, which helps. David’s parents seem to think it’s a bad idea, too, but surely people sharing their bedroom with that monstrosity of a family portrait aren’t to be listened to.

Everyone in town seems to find out about the opening day event within hours of it being decided, but when David asks Patrick, he says he didn’t invite anyone because he doesn’t know anyone here, which is a fair point. People are apparently just… interested. None of which helps David’s growing stress over the whole thing.

***

David learns that the portrait has been moved to the motel lobby when he gets a text that reads:

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Sun Jun 20** 8:23PM **Patrick:** Why David, I didn’t know that you were 007 in your former life.  
  


Which is honestly a far more flattering reaction than David was prepared for. 

***

The rest of the week goes by quickly, though David worries sometimes, because Patrick can have a sort of manic energy. David suspects it is a result of him trying to work so hard he doesn’t think about his break-up. It’s useful though, because for all their carefully laid out to-do lists, getting things into their final place is much more difficult in reality. 

David could swear Patrick is flirting with him sometimes, but locks that firmly (not semi-firmly) in a box labelled _‘not right now’._ Patrick definitely teases everyone and any feeling David has that it’s different with him is probably just wishful thinking. As is how often he thinks about the reason Patrick broke up with Rachel, and what that could mean. He’d said _I could never love her the way I wanted to_ and while David hadn’t felt right asking why that was, he wonders— _hopes._

The day before their opening Alexis storms into the store. “David, _please_ tell me you sell snail mucin essence.”

David shakes his head. “Sorry, no, but I’ve been trying to convince Erika, who makes a lot of our skincare, that she should produce it.”

“Ugh!” Alexis says, pouting dramatically. “I’ve nearly run out.”

Patrick, who has been double-checking the shelves are secure for the third time, says, “Hi Alexis, good to see you again. What did you just ask if we stock?”

Alexis’ expression transforms to a sunny smile as she notices him. “Oh my god, hi Patrick! I was hoping you had snail mucin essence, it's _amazing_ for your skin.”

Patrick’s eyes dart between Alexis and David. “And when you say ‘snail mucin’ does that mean...”

“Snail secretion filtrate, yes, but it’s incredible for repairing damaged skin and maintaining elasticity,” David says, doing his best not to sound defensive.

Patrick nods slowly. “Right, that sounds... um.” He looks uncertain. “I thought you only wanted to sell cruelty free products?”

“Aww, Patrick,” Alexis says, looking at him and flapping her hands like he’s an adorable puppy. “It’s _so_ cute that you’re worried about the snails but this is, like, the opposite of cruelty! They put them in what is basically a little spa steam room which makes them _super_ happy and then they make extra mucin so we can share it with them!”

Patrick’s face isn’t doing a great job of hiding his amusement as he looks to David with a quirk of brow as if to ask, ‘Seriously?’

David nods, trying not to enjoy the way Patrick’s eyes are sparkling as much as he does. He should probably be annoyed that Patrick’s clearly not taking this seriously, but... “I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s actually really good.”

Patrick’s mouth quirks further into a grin. “And how do you use this stuff?”

“On your face, especially if you have issues with keeping your skin hydrated,” Alexis replies. She doesn’t seem to have realised yet how amused Patrick is.

“So you get the snails super happy until they release this stuff and then you just... give yourself a _facial_?” Patrick’s eyes are on David as he says this, an oh-so-subtle suggestive edge to his voice and laugher dancing in his eyes. David is very grateful he is not prone to blushing because _what the fuck_. 

Luckily Alexis is still capable of talking like a normal human because David has no clue how to respond. “You wouldn’t really class it as a facial, as such, but basically.”

“I’m still not convinced people here would buy it, but if Erika could be convinced to do a small batch on a trial basis, maybe I could be talked around,” Patrick says, the hint of suggestion still in his voice.

Later, Alexis cajoles Patrick into getting them drinks from the cafe and once he’s gone she says, “I thought you said there wasn’t anything happening between you two?”

David, who had been taking the opportunity to watch Patrick stride confidently across the road, takes a moment too long to parse this before swirling around to face Alexis. “What are you talking about?”

Alexis rolls her eyes. “Seriously, David? I saw the way he looked at you when he was talking about snail mucin ' _facials_ ' which, _ew,_ by the way.” She makes air quotes with her fingers when she says ‘facials,’ and twists her mouth like she bit into a lemon.

David huffs; he should have known she'd spotted that. “He was just teasing, it’s the only way he communicates.”

Alexis shakes her head. “When I met him the other morning he was totally polite and charming, but not even a little bit flirty. I figured it was just that he’s engaged, but he was so _totally_ flirting with you.” She gestures vigorously but then her expression turns slightly disappointed. “I thought you were done going after married men.”

“Ugh, shut up, Alexis. He is not married, but he also wasn’t _flirting._ We are just business partners!” David knows he is not helping his case by reacting so strongly, but he can’t seem to help it. 

Alexis shoots him a look that says she’s not buying it. “Sure, David, but I’m here if you need to talk about it.”

David takes a deep breath. “Okay, we have the store opening tomorrow, so can you please either help or get out?”

Alexis agrees to help, in exchange for a lip balm, and she doesn’t mention anything about the so-called-flirting when Patrick gets back with their drinks. David, however, can still feel her shrewd eyes on them until she leaves.

After she’s gone, Patrick turns to him with that spark in his eyes and says, “You seriously want us to sell snail jizz?”

David throws a cat fur scarf at him, which is when Patrick informs him he’s allergic.

***

Despite so much time building up to it, opening day still somehow comes as a shock. There’s a long line of foul-mouthed strangers wrapping along the corner of the building, waiting to get in like it’s Dominique Ansel’s bakery before the mouse infestation. Patrick apparently learned how to wire lights through _Youtube tutorials_ and David has a terrible selfish feeling of relief that he and Rachel broke up so David’s had him here four extra days. Who knows what else wouldn’t have gotten done without him? 

He doesn’t mention that, of course, instead he just tolerates Patrick’s teasing and opens the store. It feels like it should be more complex, somehow, than opening a door, and of course it is. It’s everything that David and Patrick and Stevie and Alexis and Ronnie and even Ray have done to get them here.

Sometime after finding out from Jocelyn they’re selling drugs, and before they close up for the night, David actually sees Ray holding up the line at check-out talking to Patrick. He’s about to go rescue Patrick from the endless chat when he sees Ray hand over a business card and move on.

David should have predicted how good Patrick would be with people, working the till. If David didn’t know better, he’d think Patrick had been living in town for ages, the way he interacts so easily even with the more colourful characters that live there. David is glad he’s free to walk the floor, getting people interested in the products they carry, hoping they’ll make a sale. It’s so much easier for him than the check-out, where he has to remember all the steps to follow, while also concentrating on being charming and personable.

At the end of the day they hug again, and while it’s congratulatory, with the traditional manly back-pats, it’s nothing like the quick squeeze of David trying to comfort Patrick last weekend. They settle into the hug and David can’t help but slide his hand along Patrick’s shoulder a little, feeling Patrick reciprocate the gesture, and wonder if maybe… but before he can even complete that thought, let alone act on it, the lights start to flicker.

It’s only when David's getting stock to refill the tea section he remembers what he didn’t get a chance to tell Patrick during the day. “Patrick, you know you said you haven’t known where to get weed since university?”

Patrick, who was about to take a full trash bag out back, looks at him suspiciously. “Yes?”

“I’m pretty sure we stock it _here,_ in the store!” David says, gesturing with a bag of the Joshua Tree tree.

“No, Mr. Hockley makes that out of a greenhouse on his farm—oh! Right, I see it now. When exactly did you realise this?”

“Jocelyn Schitt asked if we were selling drugs!” David says brightly, knowing Patrick will see how horrified he is.

“And you left it on the shelves?”

David rolls his eyes. “No, I put the rest in the back; I just got this one out to demonstrate.” David takes a sniff and passes it to Patrick to smell as well.

Patrick’s eyes go wide. “Probably should ask Mr Hockley about that.”

“Yup, already on the to-do list.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Patrick goes home and has some important conversations.

Being able to focus on the store all week has been a blessing and if it wouldn't be an asshole move to make Rachel pack up all his stuff for him, Patrick’s not sure he’d actually be able to make himself drive back home on Sunday morning. While he sits in his car, parked at Schitt’s Creek Motel, Patrick opens his messages with Rachel on his phone to let her know he's going to be back to pack up his stuff and the last message in the thread stops him cold.

**iMessage:** Rachel Campbell  
  
**Thu Jun 17** 6:05PM **Rachel Campbell:** Don’t forget the butter!  
  


Rachel hasn’t been in contact with him all week, nor he with her. It hits him that this is the last totally normal, domestic message that will ever be exchanged between them, and it suddenly makes it all real, somehow. For the first time, he lets himself grieve the life he _won’t_ have with Rachel and lets the tears fall, for a few moments, before pulling out of the motel driveway.

The drive leaves him with nothing but time to relive breaking up with Rachel. He’s been able to avoid thinking about it too much with getting the store ready, but now whatever music he plays won’t drown it out.

The worst part was that she'd looked so _shocked_ when he’d said it. Whenever they’d broken up in the past they’d both seen it coming. If he’d broken up with her before the date where he’d told her about Rose Apothecary she probably wouldn’t have been surprised, but for her that night had clearly been a sign things were getting better. He’d thought so himself when they left the restaurant, before she’d managed to lay him bare with a few words.

He’d spent the week after that date constantly in his head, wishing he didn’t have to do this—to end things. He’d known it would be a shock to her and that was why he’d forced himself not to delay it any longer. He’d finished the last day of his office job on Friday and broke up with her on Saturday morning. Part of him had wondered if he could just let them slip into old patterns, knowing they’d probably break up again eventually, but he couldn’t keep deceiving Rachel now that he finally understood himself. Even the part of him that feels like it’s selfish to want to live honestly knows that trying to stay with Rachel wouldn’t have been fair to either of them.

He hadn’t been able to tell her why, though. “I can’t give you what you need,” and “I just don’t feel about you the way you deserve,” and “I’m sorry, Rachel” were all he'd been able to muster.

“Fuck you for thinking you get to decide what I deserve,” she replied, and he’d felt like that was fair, really. “You know we’ll always get back together.”

He’s proud that he’d at least told her “That won’t happen this time,” that he’d forced himself to be definitive in a way he never had previously. He’d never _felt_ so definitive before, and he hoped she saw it. Despite his conviction, he hadn’t been able to say the words to explain _why_ he was so sure now, why this time was different. He made the decision to go to Schitt’s Creek early to be there for the week of the opening. He did manage to convince her, though, that some space would do them both some good, and that they’d talk more when he gets back to pick up the rest of his stuff.

He’ll move back into his childhood bedroom at his parents’ house while he sorts stuff out. His room there has never been converted into a proper spare room, probably because of how many times he’s moved back into it in circumstances like these. He’s determined this will be the last time and he doesn’t think he’ll be there long. He’d informed his parents by text about his break up, asking them to give him time till he returns before they talk about it more. That time is up now, but talking to Rachel will come first.

He could just pack up his car and drive straight back to Schitt’s Creek, maybe send another text to inform his family. When he thought about leaving before, that’s what he figured he’d do. It’s not like he could have explained it, when he didn’t understand it himself.

He _does_ understand it now and still, he doesn’t want to explain it. But watching David—who has been hurt so many times—be vulnerable and bare his soul to an entire town in the form of his store, has inspired Patrick to learn how to be more open. If he can do that, Patrick can do this. It’s scary, but he knows that however it turns out, he has a place to go.

***

Despite the parade of his failings in his mind, the rest of the drive goes smoothly and he’s parking in his spot at the apartment he no longer lives in before he’s ready. 

It feels wrong to use his key, so he knocks. Rachel looks resigned when she opens the door. “You made good time, eh?”

Patrick tries to smile. “Yup, no traffic the whole way.”

Rachel nods and gestures him in.

It’s hard to know where to start. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep paying my share of the rent until you can break the lease,” he tries and then winces. Probably going right to business wasn’t right.

“You haven’t changed your mind, then?” Rachel’s tone is too flat to read.

“No. I’m sorry.”

“Could you at least tell me why; really why?” Rachel lets the hurt shine through for a moment and it feels so wrong not to comfort her when she’s in pain. His muscle memory wants to wrap her in his arms, but that wouldn’t help.

“Can we sit down?”

Rachel sits curled up on the couch and Patrick has to consciously stop himself from sitting next to her automatically. He takes the armchair. 

“I want to promise you, before I tell you this, that I didn’t know.”

Rachel looks annoyed and concerned. “What didn’t you know?”

Patrick takes a deep breath, closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to see her, and for the first time in his life, he says: “I’m gay.”

When he makes himself open his eyes again Rachel doesn’t look angry; she looks confused. “I don’t understand, what do you mean?”

Patrick isn’t really sure what to say. “I’m... I’m attracted to men. In a way that I’m not attracted to women.”

“I know what gay means, Patrick! I mean, how did you not _know_? How could we be together so many years and you’re not even _attracted_ to me?” Rachel’s eyes flash at him, and this is the reaction he expected, but it hurts.

“I can’t explain it, I really wish I could. It’s like...” he tries to put all these feelings into words. “I don’t know how to say it without hurting you.”

Rachel rolls her eyes. “Please just say it.”

“Being with you always made sense. You’re beautiful, you’re my best friend, we make each other laugh—plus, my family likes you and we always got along well with each others’ friends. There was no reason why it shouldn’t work, except it kept _not working_. I love you, Rachel, I do. And I wanted so, so badly to make it work that I never fully let myself consider that maybe, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t do it. It was never going to feel right.”

“And you... figured out what feels right?” There’s a look in her eyes, like the look she’d had on that park bench. _I thought you’d met someone else._

“I think so? I’ve never—” God he can’t believe he’s saying all this, he hopes this helps her more than it hurts. “I've never even, uh, kissed a guy or anything; I promise I’ve never cheated on you. But I’m pretty sure that that’s what _would_ be right. For me.”

Rachel huffs out a loud breath. “Fuck, I'd come up with all sorts of reasons but I never even thought of this one. How am I supposed to be mad at you that the _idea_ of being with a guy is apparently more appealing to you than the past decade of being with me, and also try to be a supportive person whose best friend just came out to them?”

Something unknots in Patrick, very slightly. “You don’t need to be supportive of me.” He thinks about what Stevie said. “It’s not—” he can’t make him say the word ‘homophobic’ in relation to himself. “It’s not offensive or something, to be pissed off it took me this long to get my head out of my ass. I have friends who can be supportive of me—it's not your job.”

Rachel shakes her head. “Why do you always have to be so god-damned sensible, Patrick Brewer?”

He shrugs. “Sorry.”

“So, you’ve told other people?” 

Patrick shakes his head. “Not yet, but... I think I’ll tell my parents before I go?”

“Before you go where?”

 _Fuck_ , he hadn’t got to that part. “I’ve been thinking—the store opening went really well. And I thought maybe focusing on the store would be good for me right now. Maybe moving to Schitt’s Creek would be a clean slate. A fresh start.”

“Is there someone, I mean, is there a guy—” Rachel stops talking abruptly and holds up her palm. “Actually, you know what? I don’t want to know that, please don’t answer that question. Are you leaving right away?”

Patrick is pathetically grateful she didn’t make him answer that question, because he’s not sure he knows the answer—he _is_ sure he doesn’t _want_ to answer it, and it kind of doesn’t matter. He’s attracted to David, maybe David’s attracted to him. David is not the reason this relationship had to end; he’s merely a catalyst.

“I’ll probably stay around for a week or two to tie up loose ends? Don’t worry, once I’ve got my stuff today you don’t have to see me.”

Rachel nods. “That’s probably for the best. I want to be friends with you, Patrick, some day, but I don’t know when that’s going to happen.”

“I’d love that, some day.”

Rachel stands up. “Okay, I guess we can figure out any official logistics over text, or something? I’m going to Debbie’s for the night. Text me to let me know when you leave; I probably won’t reply.”

Patrick blinks and stands up as well. “Yes, sure, of course.” He winces. “Could you... not tell her about the whole,” he gestures, but then forces himself to say it. “The whole gay thing? Just until I’ve told my parents—I’ll tell you when that’s done.”

Rachel sighs. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to rush telling your parents if you’re not ready. Don’t worry about me telling anyone.”

“That’s... way too generous, but I appreciate it. I’ll let you know.”

“They really love you, Patrick. It’ll be okay.” Rachel’s eyes are sincere and certain; Patrick hopes desperately that she’s right.

It’s strange to watch Rachel walk out the door without giving her a kiss first.

***

Patrick doesn’t have that much stuff. Never having been forced to clear out his childhood bedroom means a lot if his stuff is still there. He’s starting to realise he'd been living his life with Rachel always ready to leave when it got too much, even after proposing. 

Rachel’s engagement ring is sitting on his bedside table. He doesn’t touch it.

It takes a few hours to pack. Anything that could potentially be considered to belong to both of them he leaves; it’s the least he can do. He’d brought some of the endless pile of empty boxes Rose Apothecary generates, so it’s not too hard to fill and label them up. Once he finishes that, he cleans the kitchen and the bathroom and vacuums the whole place before he can admit to himself he’s putting off what comes next.

He sends a message to his parents.

**iMessage:** Brewer Family Huddle  
  
**Sun Jun 27** 3:49PM **Patrick Brewer:** Sorry I missed lunch today, is it still okay if I stay with you guys for a while? Would like to talk about some things tonight.  
  


He feels awkward about it, like they’ll suddenly say, _No, actually, we never want to see you again._

While waiting for a response he gives in to the urge he's been feeling all day and texts David.

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sun Jun 27** 3:54PM **Patrick Brewer:** How'd the first day flying solo go?  
  
**David Rose:** It was okay, not as busy as yesterday but I’m still really fucking glad we decided the store isn’t open on Mondays  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** That’s probably good overall? Remember, we want the store to be busy.  
  
**David Rose:** Trust me, I remembered that every moment I was alone in there today  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Are you done with closing, do you have a minute?  
  
**David Rose:** Yes, just finished. What’s up?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I know I’ve been asking a lot of you as a friend lately but I don’t really have anyone else I think I could do this with   
  
**Patrick Brewer:** So   
  
**David Rose:** ?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’m gay. And I really don’t want to have a conversation about how it took me so long to figure it out or if I’m sure or whatever because I just told Rachel and I’m telling my parents tonight  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** But I’m kind of freaking out so I needed to tell someone who won’t consider me a disappointment   
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Sorry I’m not asking you to be my gay guru, or whatever  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Not saying you’re gay I know you like women, too  
  


INCOMING CALL: David Rose

“Hi, David.”

“Hi, Patrick, seemed like this may be the fastest way to get you out of spiraling in all directions.”

“Sorry, I just kept saying things wrong and—”

“You didn’t say anything wrong.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely not, stop stressing yourself out. Well, I mean, it’s okay to be stressed, but you don’t need to be stressed about _me_.”

“Thank you.”

“You aren’t like Jocelyn asking me to talk to some bitchy high schooler because I’m the only queer guy she knows. You’re my friend, asking for support, which is what I’m told friends do. I wouldn’t know personally, because Stevie would rather bandage up her own bullet wounds than let someone see her bleed, but I’m pretty sure it’s standard friend behaviour.”

“You can ask me for support, too. I feel like this has been kind of one sided.”

“Trust me; when yet another fashion week rolls around that I am neither able to attend, nor afford, I will _absolutely_ be leaning on you.”

“That does sound pretty harrowing.”

“You’re being sarcastic, but I’ll take it. Do you want to talk about it? Telling people, I mean.”

“Rachel was… better than I probably deserve, but at least she knows. I think my parents will be okay. I hope they will.”

“You can come here if you need to, but I hope you don’t.”

“Thank you.”

“I mean I hope you don’t come here because you _have_ to—feel free to make your next visit as soon as possible, so I can make you work the till.”

“You know, I think I preferred the version of that before the clarification.”

“I have a gift.”

“Can I ask you how you told your parents?”

“Mm, I couldn’t cope with the idea of having an actual conversation with them, so I just brought home a couple I was seeing one day when I was at college.”

“Well, that’d do it.”

“Mmhm! They were okay—my dad tried too hard, if anything. I think he would have been able to cope a bit easier with gay, but I kind of blew his mind with pan.”

“Hey, at least I have that going for me.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“I just got a message from my parents, I should probably go.”

“As long as you’re ready. You don’t have an obligation to tell them.”

“I’m not sure I believe that, but thank you for saying it.”

“It’s true.”

“Oh, before I go, did that thing with Jocelyn actually happen?”

“Oh god, yes. She had me talk to this kid because he was struggling with being _different_ and he basically tore my life to shreds in a five minute conversation.”

“Ouch.”

“I don’t know, I might have needed to hear it.”

“... David?”

“Yeah?”

“What if they don’t react the way I think they will?”

“Then I will be here for you, and so will Stevie, and we’ll help you get through it.”

“Okay.”

***

Patrick knows full well he has a tendency to hide from difficult conversations, which is why he’s making himself use the high of the store’s successful opening to get this over with now. He is absolutely certain if he starts putting off telling them he's going to keep doing it as long as he can. A part of him heard David’s coming out story and thought, _I could wait until I have someone_. It sounds nice, but he has no idea when that’s going to happen. Much as he really likes David, he’s not certain whether there’s the possibility of something there for real. 

Besides, he just put David through supporting Patrick in coming out to his parents. He doesn’t want to have to tell him he wimped out. 

Not to forget Rachel. He sent her a message when he left—a picture of his key on the console table—and unsurprisingly, she hasn’t responded. It’s not fair of him to ask any more from her than she’s already given, but he trusts her not to tell anyone. He doesn’t like the possibility of his parents finding out from anyone other than him, however unlikely that may be.

In the end, actually telling his parents is fairly straightforward. He gets there in time for a light dinner, as they always do on a Sunday because they usually eat so much at Family Lunch. This is a tradition for just them, once the rest of the family has retired back to their own homes for the evening, though Patrick hasn’t been a part of it in a while. Usually he’s there for lunch and leaves when everyone else does. They fill him in on the family and don’t ask him too much about the break-up with Rachel, which he’s grateful for.

Afterwards, they have tea and his mom says, “You wanted to talk?”

“I have to tell you something.” Patrick takes a deep breath and looks in the middle point between his parents. "It’s something I really only just figured out myself and it’s okay if you’re surprised, but I feel like I should tell you? Because understanding this has been… really important to me. And I’m planning to move to Schitt’s Creek—for the store—which I’ll tell you more about later, but I don’t want to go without saying this.”

His parents watch the whole thing with concerned eyes, their hands clasped together. 

“What is it, son?” his dad asks, carefully.

“I, uh, don’t know how else to say this—,” Patrick can feel his eyes well up, which is _so_ not helpful, but he manages to keep it together. He’s typed it out and even said it out loud now, but it still takes effort to keep his voice steady and sure. “I’m gay.”

***

**iMessage:** Rachel Campbell  
  
**Sun Jun 27** 9:27PM **Patrick Brewer:** I told my parents, so you can talk about it to Debbie if you want.  
  
**Rachel Campbell:** How did it go?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** You don’t have to do this, but it went well.  
  
**Rachel Campbell:** I’m always going to care, Patrick. I’m really glad to hear that.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Thank you.  
  
**Rachel Campbell:** Debbie’s going to contact you about dealing with the apartment and everything with your name on it.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Okay. Thanks for letting me know.  
  


***

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sun Jun 27** 9:45PM **Patrick Brewer:** So, I did the thing we talked about.  
  
**David Rose:** How’d it go?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Good. They were surprised, but they said all the right things.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Sorry I won’t be running off to Schitt’s Creek quite yet.  
  
**David Rose:** I guess I can manage restocking by myself  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’ll be sending moral support.  
  
**David Rose:** Speaking of moral support, do you want this to be acknowledged but not mentioned, or do you want the queer BFFs package?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’m kind of scared to ask what the second one is.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Also, am I even allowed to use that word?  
  
**David Rose:** Queer? It’s an umbrella term that’s been reclaimed for the whole LGBTQ+ community. I prefer it to the alphabet soup that doesn’t even include my letter. Some people aren’t fond of it, because of the baggage, but if you want it, it’s yours  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** And your letter is P? If you’re okay with me checking.  
  
**David Rose:** Yup, P for pansexual, when I have to specify, but then I usually have to explain that it means that I have the potential to be attracted to people of any gender, and that can be kind of a drag, so I normally just let people find out or not  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Sorry, that sounds exhausting.  
  
**David Rose:** It’s whatever, I’m used to it. I even had to clarify to Stevie that yes, I am attracted to women, despite having gone down on her for like half an hour the night before  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** That doesn’t sound any less exhausting.  
  
**David Rose:** I genuinely can’t tell if that’s sympathy or a sex joke  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’m a man of mystery.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** So what is the queer BFFs package?  
  
**David Rose:** We talk about hot guys, share stories of our sexual awakenings, etc etc.   
  
**David Rose:** I mean, in my past experience it would then lead to you sleeping with a guy I thought was my boyfriend and us never speaking again, but I’m going through kind of a dry spell right now, so it shouldn’t be hard to skip that part.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Wow  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Your old friends seem like terrible people.  
  
**David Rose:** You’d probably think I was terrible people, too, if you’d known me then  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I can’t imagine ever thinking that about you.  
  
**David Rose:** Even if I tell you I’m pretty sure I forgot to pay for the bottle of apple juice I took from the fridge today?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Oh, well in that case!  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Seriously, no. Even then.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I mean, I do expect you to pay for that tomorrow, but still.  
  
**David Rose:** So that’s a no on the package?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about hot guys, I didn’t even realise I noticed them until embarrassingly recently. And I don’t exactly have any sexual awakenings to share.  
  
**David Rose:** Sexual awakening doesn’t have to mean something involving sex! I’m pretty sure mine was when I watched Pretty Woman and didn’t know if it was Julia or Richard that gave me an awkward erection.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** How is a story in which you have a boner so adorable?  
  
**David Rose:** It was probably also tmi, sorry  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I don’t know if you could ever give me too much information, David.  
  
**David Rose:** Oh  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Maybe that was tmi  
  
**David Rose:** No… I kind of feel like I need to pause your embarrassing story probation after sending that, though.   
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I didn’t even ask you to send it!  
  
**David Rose:** And yet here we are  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I used to kiss my poster of Carlos Delgado before every little league game. For luck.  
  
**David Rose:** Oh my god that’s so fucking cute  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I am well known to be adorable, it’s true.  
  
**David Rose:** I actually want to apologise for something  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** What could you possibly have to apologise to me for?  
  
**David Rose:** It was wrong for me to assume you were straight, I usually try not to do that  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I mean, I was engaged to a woman.  
  
**David Rose:** I thought we’d already established that I could be engaged to a woman and it still wouldn’t make me straight  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** … I guess you’re right.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** It really is okay, but thank you for the apology. I appreciate it.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** On that note, I think we should continue to be whatever sort of friends we were yesterday.  
  
**David Rose:** So just business partners, then?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Whatever you say.  
  


Patrick finds it hard to get to sleep after that. He’s still riding the intense adrenaline surge of coming out. Hopefully, someday, it will be something he can say easily, but even after having told the most important people in his life, the idea of telling anyone else still comes with a side of panic.

On the other hand, there’s David, who seems to have no idea how good he is at being a supportive friend. He doesn’t know why he hasn’t told David yet about his plan to move to Schitt’s Creek, he just feels so nervous imagining how he might respond. Texting with him had helped settle Patrick a lot, except for all the ways it unsettled him. David talks so freely about sex and attraction and it doesn’t feel like the skeezy locker room talk Patrick has spent so much of his life around, but a natural part of his life. David’s no more aiming to shock and titillate when talking about those subjects, than when he references his skin-care routine.

The message his mind keeps coming back to is the one about Stevie. There is something deeply confusing about finally coming to terms with being a gay man, and then being turned on by having a man casually referencing going down on a woman. Where Patrick had first pushed down that reaction, he finally lets himself analyse it. 

His attraction to David is something Patrick has acknowledged to himself, but also held at arm’s length. They _are_ business partners after all. But trying to make sense of this reaction, he has to acknowledge that the Stevie part of it is utterly irrelevant. He got turned on not because it was about going down on a woman—something Patrick is plenty experienced in and honestly feels pretty neutral about—but because the idea of _David_ having sex, any kind of sex, turns him on. Hell, just the thought of David is enough to do it by itself.

Amongst everything else going on in his life recently Patrick has continued his experiment with allowing himself to think about men when he masturbates. The results have been embarrassingly conclusive, even more so when he added porn. What he hasn’t let himself do, even with the echoes of David’s moans that night with Sebastien never far from his mind, is think about David. It would be inappropriate. And yet...

It feels silly for the barrier to be so broken down by David just referencing his sex life a few times, but maybe it’s also the fact that he spent a week in such close proximity to David and now is away from him again. Patrick can’t help but imagine having replied differently. Maybe he could have offered to help with David’s dry spell, or said _You were my sexual awakening_. 

It’s a rush how just those ideas make Patrick hard; he’d been a little wound up by the whole text conversation, but now it feels urgent. He starts to touch himself over his pyjama pants as he follows up with the thought that maybe David would call him. He likes the idea that he could hear David’s voice telling him what he finds attractive, saying he finds _Patrick_ attractive. Maybe, instead of apologising for his text being tmi, David would follow up Patrick’s confession by giving him _all_ the information.

Patrick is quiet, but he imagines letting himself be loud for David, moaning into the phone and having David groan back. He thinks about the sorts of noises David might make, whether he’d be one to talk during sex. He thinks David would, and it makes Patrick want to be someone who does that, too. Patrick urgently shoves his pants down and gets some lotion from the bedside table on his hand. He strokes himself roughly and pictures himself saying things to David he’s never even _thought_ before.

It doesn’t take much more than remembering the feeling of David’s body pressed up against his when they hugged at the end of the store’s opening day to make Patrick come.

 _Yup,_ he thinks, reaching for something to clean himself off with. _Definitely right about the gay thing._

***

**iMessage:** Stevie Budd  
  
**Mon June 28** 11:13AM **Patrick Brewer:** BTW I guess I’m getting the whole ‘telling people’ thing over with... and since apparently David doesn’t know how to know anything without sharing it with you, I thought I should tell you, I’m gay.  
  
**Stevie Budd:** Cool, thanks for letting me know  
  
**Stevie Budd:** When you say that David knows this...  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I informed him by text in a completely platonic way  
  
**Stevie Budd:** Completely platonic?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I wanted to talk to someone before I came out to my parents  
  
**Stevie Budd:** Shit, sorry for teasing. Hope that went okay  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** If you didn’t tease me it would be disturbing, don’t worry about it.   
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Parents went well.  
  
**Stevie Budd:** Awesome!  
  
**Stevie Budd:** And I’m just saying, if what you feel isn’t completely platonic and you want to talk about it, I am actually amazing at not telling David things that I know  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** That is simultaneously reassuring and… not. Who knows what you’re keeping from me?  
  
**Stevie Budd:** 💁  
  


***

His cousin Caitlin’s High School isn’t far from Patrick’s old office, so it’s not unheard of for them to meet at the coffeeshop in between the two. It didn’t happen often, just on days when he could get out of work at a decent hour while she was still in the area. When they sit down together this time, however, she squints at him suspiciously. 

“What’s with the sudden checking in on me? Don’t tell me you’re planning to give the ‘are you sure it’s not just a phase’ talk after all.”

Patrick frowns and lifts his hands in a motion of surrender. “That is _definitely_ not what's happening here. Have you been getting that from your parents?”

Caitlin rolls her eyes. “Not really, but they keep ‘checking in’ and seeming surprised when, yup, still queer.”

Patrick winces and decides he might as well go for it. “I’m definitely not looking forward to that part.”

Caitlin’s eyes go wide in confusion and Patrick can’t help but laugh a little.

“Yeah, so, you aren’t actually the only gay cousin.”

“Oh, wow.” Caitlin blinks a few times. “That’s… wow. Congratulations!”

Patrick full out laughs at that response. “Congratulations?”

Caitlin shrugs. “Yeah, congrats on coming out and getting to be in the queer community. We’re awesome.”

Patrick grins. “Thank you.”

“Do you want to talk about it? And um, gay cousin like gay-gay or…” she gestures vaguely.

“Gay-gay.” 

Caitlin nods. “For the record, I’m like... not totally settled on a label, I just know girls are super hot.”

“Whatever you say,” Patrick replies, without really thinking about it and then they’re just grinning at each other because, _wow_ , that’s a joke they can share. “Um, I assume you heard I broke up with Rachel?”

Caitlin winces a little. “Yeah, word got around.” She takes a long sip of her drink. “I’m guessing it’s going to stick this time.”

Patrick nods. “I finally figured out why it kept not working, so yeah.” 

“So, you didn’t know?”

Patrick shakes his head. “Nope. I knew there was something, but… Anyway, I’ve told her and my parents, no going back now.”

“Wow, good for you. That must having fucking sucked.”

Part of Patrick wants to chastise his baby cousin for swearing, but he just laughs. “It did, but I’m really glad I did it. I actually had something else to tell you, too.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m moving to Schitt’s Creek.”

“Oh wow, for your store?” Thankfully Caitlin looks more excited than disappointed. Patrick’s so tired of disappointing people.

“Yeah. I was there for a week preparing for the store opening and it was… really great.”

“Tell me about it?”

So he tells Caitlin more: about the store and David and the people in the town—how one guy has already offered him a room to rent. He can’t help but go off on tangents, telling her about David’s many moodboards and how he has managed to find the most _amazing_ selection of products. It makes him feel more sure of the choice.

She looks at him shrewdly throughout. When he’s run out of things to say she asks, “So, when are you going to ask David out?”

Patrick’s glad his drink is finished or he’d be doing a spit-take. “What?”

Caitlin shrugs. “You clearly like him and it sounds like he likes you back.”

Patrick fiddles with his empty mug. “You think so?”

“Obviously I just know your side of the story, but it’s worth trying.”

Patrick frowns. “I’ve only just broken up with Rachel, though, I don’t want him to think it’s a rebound or something. We work together.”

“I mean, _is it_ a rebound?”

Patrick breaths out in a huff. “Not throwing me any softballs are you, kiddo?”

Caitlin rolls her eyes at the nickname, as usual. “You wouldn’t want me to.”

He can’t help but smile at that. She’d always been blunt with him, from when she was a kid and asked him why he kept flubbing notes when he was learning guitar. He really thinks about it. If what he’s feeling for David is about not being able to deal with not being in a relationship, latching on to the first potential guy he met that he could maybe date, it’s a bad idea. But… that’s not it. Flirting with David feels like something he’s been waiting to experience his whole life without knowing it—he’s pretty sure dating him would be even better.

“It’s not a rebound. It’s… maybe complicated, but it’s not that.” Allowing himself to really consider dating David feels nothing like the times he couldn’t cope with being single and asked out some other girl as soon as he and Rachel had a break up. It feels like nothing else he’s experienced before.

“So ask him out, dummy.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a birthday is celebrated.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Mon Jun 28** 12:12PM **Patrick:** How do you cope with living in such close quarters with your parents?  
  
**David:** I have literally no idea how I do it. Are you struggling already?  
  
**Patrick:** I shouldn’t complain, it’s nothing bad. It just feels a bit stifling, like they’re expecting us to have the same dynamic as when I was a kid. It’s hard not to revert to acting like a teenager immediately.  
  
**David:** Ah, well that is not a problem I am experienced in.  
  
**Patrick:** No?  
  
**David:** What you have to understand with my parents is that they spent most of my childhood emphatically disinterested in whatever I had going on. I’m not sure we even had a dynamic to fall back into when we moved here  
  
**Patrick:** Well now I feel like an asshole for complaining  
  
**David:** Please don’t, just because my family is it’s own specific mess doesn’t mean yours isn’t stressful  
  
**Patrick:** I guess.  
  
**Patrick:** So what’s it like now with your parents?   
  
**David:** It’s strangely good, though having the store to get away from them more often helps with that immensely  
  
**Patrick:** They’re obviously proud of you.  
  
**David:** They are?  
  
**Patrick:** Yes, David. When they checked out at the opening they kept telling me how impressed they were with what you’d done.  
  
**David:** Oh  
  
**Patrick:** Sorry, I should have told you that before, I just figured you knew.  
  
**David:** We’re still learning how to communicate positive emotions  
  
**Patrick:** Well if they communicate any more of them my way I’ll pass them along.  
  


***

For David, the hardest part of running the store by himself is definitely the mornings. Tuesday is the first nine am opening that he has to handle by himself, and making sure he’s there early enough to ensure everything is ready is a struggle. He’d tried to convince Patrick they should just open later in the day, but Patrick had pointed out there was a lot of foot traffic in the area from daycare drop offs. He’s sure he’ll get used to it eventually, but it really makes him miss Patrick. Of course, Patrick is never that far out of touch, as David gets his first message of the day from him at five past nine. 

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Tue Jun 29** 9:05AM **Patrick:** How’s it going?  
  


David smiles fondly at his phone, because he can when he’s alone in here. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but David didn’t realise that it would somehow make it harder to ignore his feelings than it had been with Patrick right in front of him.

It doesn’t help that in the couple of days since he last saw Patrick he’s found out that Patrick is gay and had some intensely personal conversations with him. David likes Patrick a lot, but their friendship and the business is too important to give into his lustful urge to offer himself up for Patrick to explore his sexuality with. David knows full well that’s a way to get his heart trampled to pieces, whether or not Patrick is even interested.

He shakes off his musings so he can reply.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Tue Jun 29** 9:06AM **David:** Did you send that so you could check the store is actually open and I’m not still in bed?  
  
**Patrick:** That wasn’t the only reason.  
  
**David:** You have such faith in me  
  
**Patrick:** So… does that mean the store is open?  
  
**David:** Yes and I’m going to put my phone away in the hopes we may even get a customer  
  


***

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Wed Jun 30** 5:04PM **David:** You will not believe what Jocelyn Schitt said to me today  
  
**Patrick:** What was that?  
  
**David:** She said that our store is ‘niche’. NICHE! What does that even mean?  
  
**Patrick:** Niche, adjective: denoting or relating to products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.  
  
**David:** You’re hilarious  
  
**Patrick:** Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I think it’ll take a while for people to realise that we stock things that everyone needs. They just aren’t used to seeing them presented this way.  
  
**David:** Well, yes  
  
**Patrick:** Sorry, did I cut off the rant you were preparing to go on?  
  
**David:** No comment  
  


***

It shouldn’t be a surprise that David’s family forgot his birthday, it would be far from the first time. Except, he thought things were different now. Last year was a mess, they hadn’t been in Schitt’s Creek long and were recovering from not selling the town. This year… he’d just hoped for more. 

David spends two days wallowing to himself before a customer asks for a gift receipt and David can’t take it anymore. It’s his birthday and no one gives a fuck, so he gives in and texts Patrick. At least this way he’s not just whining about it in his own head.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 9:46AM **David:** Has your family ever forgotten your birthday?  
  


Patrick responding with details of his idyllic childhood birthdays that sometimes included _two_ parties with friends _and_ family isn’t exactly what David was hoping for. Eventually, however, Patrick moves the conversation on from his own picture-perfect upbringing. 

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 9:51AM **Patrick:** Sorry, got a bit lost there.   
  
**David:** Mm  
  
**Patrick:** Should I take this to mean today is your birthday?  
  
**David:** Yes it is  
  
**Patrick:** Well happy birthday!  
  
**Patrick:** How old are we?  
  
**David:** Let’s not  
  
**Patrick:** Okay, have any plans?  
  
**David:** Oh you know, popping a pill, crying a bit, and falling asleep early. Just a regular weeknight!  
  
**Patrick:** That does sound great, but I’m sure we can find something better than that  
  
**David:** I won’t hold my breath  
  
**Patrick:** Of course not  
  


David goes back to re-stocking, but gets through hardly anything before his phone buzzes in his pocket. He makes himself finish the box before he looks, expecting platitudes from Patrick. 

**iMessage:** Stevie  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 10:02AM **Stevie:** We’re going to dinner at the cafe tonight.  
  
**David:** I assume Patrick put you up to this?  
  
**Stevie:** Doesn’t matter, birthday boy! I’m not taking no for an answer on this one. Dinner’s at 8.  
  
**David:** Fine  
  


He hates to admit that he’s actually pretty touched at the gesture. Feels a little pathetic for it, but still touched. 

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 10:08AM **David:** You didn’t have to do that  
  
**Patrick:** Do what?  
  
**David:** Make Stevie take me out for a birthday dinner  
  
**Patrick:** Aww, Stevie’s taking you out for a birthday dinner? How sweet of her.  
  
**David:** Admit it or I’m telling Stevie you called her sweet   
  
**Patrick:** That’s dirty pool, David, who knows what she’d do to me for that?  
  
**Patrick:** Seriously though, I wish I could offer to take you out for a birthday dinner. I’m not there to do it, so I mentioned it to Stevie. It’s up to her what she did with it from there.  
  
**David:** Ugh  
  
**Patrick:** Thank you Patrick, it’s so sweet of you to try and do something nice for my birthday even though I gave you no warning to make plans.  
  
**David:** 🖕  
  
**Patrick:** You’re welcome.  
  


***

Luckily the store picks up enough through the day that David doesn’t have to spend too much time thinking about his uncaring family, or his caring friends, both of which make him uncomfortable to focus on for too long. There is less texting with Patrick than usual, but he tries not to obsess over that. He’s been needy enough today as it is. 

He checks his email after closing to find a ridiculous electronic birthday card from Patrick, which involves [Donny Osmond singing “David, it’s your birthday!”](https://www.bluemountain.com/view/r5fe2f850b19143cdb05856290192e24a) David’s glad he’s alone in the store room watching it on his laptop, because the worst part about it is how much he enjoys it.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 5:23PM **David:** That’s not actually the first time Donny Osmond sang to me for my birthday, but I didn’t have to make awkward conversation with him after, so this time wins  
  


He does his best not to obsess over the lack of an answer while he goes through his end-of-day checklist.

David’s family are, as expected, absent when he gets back to the motel. He continues doing his best not to obsess over the lack of acknowledgement from them and instead appreciates having the time alone to really take his time getting ready. His phone stays on the charger while he’s in the bathroom, so he doesn’t have to think about why Patrick would go silent on him today, of all days. When he goes back to it, a message has finally appeared.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 7:28PM **Patrick:** So sorry to repeat a gift, but glad you liked this time better.  
  


It’s just dinner with Stevie at Cafe Tropical, but it feels good to really take care of himself. He uses the special occasion products that he needs to ration carefully. Now that he’s done with work for the day he allows himself to be glad he’d said something about it being his birthday. It’s good to have friends who want to celebrate his birthday, even if it doesn’t involve extravagant parties and expensive gifts. Maybe even better that way.

He gets to the cafe first, which is kind of pathetic, especially when he gets a message from Stevie warning him she’s running late. He gets a booth and orders some mozzarella sticks.

Sitting in the Cafe facing the door always increases the chances of some random resident of the town catching his eye and trying to make conversation, so David chooses the side of the table facing away from the door. This means he is fully unprepared when Patrick slides into the booth opposite him, wearing a blazer and carrying a gift bag.

“Hi David. Sorry I’m a bit late.”

David blinks and takes a minute to figure out how to use words. “How are you _here?”_

Patrick smiles that little tucked away smile. “So I’ve actually been, um, planning to move to Schitt’s Creek? And when I heard it was your birthday I decided to move up my timeline.”

“Oh,” is all David can say. He fiddles with the enormous menu to give him something to do with his hands, as he does his best to stop all the swirling feelings from showing on his face. “That’s really great news.”

Patrick’s smile gets a little bigger, but he looks nervous. “I hoped you’d say that. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I wasn’t really sure how you’d react.” 

David can’t stop noticing the blazer Patrick’s wearing. He’s pretty sure that when Patrick had asked for advice he’d said that a jacket is never a bad date night choice. It makes Patrick look put together in a different way to his usual business casual. That, plus the hint of _something_ in his eyes, makes David brave enough to say, “You look very nice.”

Patrick smiles a little self-deprecatingly and it makes David ache. “Oh, thanks. Well, you know, I assumed that the cafe would have a dinner jacket policy and I didn't wanna wear one of theirs.”

“Ah of course,” David says. He’s going to make a joke about the menu, but has a realisation. “Where are you going to stay? The motel is full tonight, first time ever, surprisingly.” David is torn between being devastated he can’t offer to let Patrick stay at his place tonight and glad that it’s not something he has to deal with doing without sounding sleazy. 

“Actually, that’s why I’m a bit late—I was just finalising my rental agreement with Ray and _boy_ is he chatty. I eventually just had to leave him mid-sentence.”

“That’s sometimes the only way to do it.” It’s fun to imagine Patrick’s politeness trying to combat Ray’s inability to end a conversation. He wonders what sort of place Patrick is renting, but asking that feels weirdly personal. Like he’d be asking if they can go back to there after dinner.

It’s almost strange for David to feel the buzzing of his phone, because that sensation has become so synonymous with Patrick, but whatever the message is, it’s clearly not from him. He’s about to ignore it when he suddenly remembers, _right, Stevie._

“Sorry, just got to check where Stevie’s got to,” he says, bringing up the message. David can’t remember the last time he actually worried that checking his phone at dinner was impolite.

**iMessage:** Stevie  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 8:19PM **Stevie:** I’m not coming to dinner. Happy birthday!  
  


David does his best to not show his panic on his face. 

**iMessage:** Stevie  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 8:19PM **David:** What???  
  
**Stevie:** Enjoy your date  
  
**David:** WHAT  
  
**Stevie:** 😏  
  


David tries to school his face to something neutral. “Looks like Stevie’s not actually coming after all.”

Patrick winces a little. “Um, yeah, I actually thought it might be nice to do dinner with just the two of us? If you—if you’re okay with that. But if you want Stevie to be here that’s fine, I’m sure we can make that happen.”

David blinks and holds his mouth shut tight against any potential noises that might escape him until he has a bit more control. “Oh! You _planned_ this.”

Patrick scrubs his hand over his face. “Yeah, sorry I should have just told you, I didn’t mean to trick you into a—to trick you into having dinner with me. It wasn’t the plan when she first asked you, it just… became the plan.”

David’s hands twitch like they want to grab Patrick’s, but he holds back the urge. “No, not at all. This is very… nice.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” David says, doing his best to project a steadiness he doesn’t feel. “Now, I’m pretty sure I saw a gift bag over there.

“Oh, we don’t need to do that now.”

David reaches right over the table to grab the bag off the seat next to Patrick. “No way.”

“It’s not a big deal, David.”

“This is the first gift I haven’t bought myself in a very long time, so thank you.”

Patrick keeps rambling as David removes the tissue paper and the present from the bag. “See, it’s nothing.”

David stares at the gorgeously framed receipt and knows exactly what it is.

“Um, it’s the—”

“Receipt from our first sale.”

“Yeah.”

“This is not nothing, Patrick. So thank you.” Suddenly David feels more steady than he has all day. This is a _date_. This is a special surprise birthday date that Patrick and Stevie worked together to make happen for him. He can work with that. It's a complete surprise but somehow makes sense. 

Twyla turns up with mozzarella sticks, breaking the tension. With all the time they spent together in their opening week, they’ve never actually shared a sit down meal together before. The meals they’ve shared have been grease to soak up the booze with Stevie, or pick-up orders where Patrick just chose from the lunch options David told him about.

Watching Patrick try to navigate the enormous menu is strangely charming, but David feels the need to warn him. “Your best shot at getting something edible is choosing something that’s basically a sandwich.”

“Oh, that’s perfect,” Patrick says, eyes twinkling dangerously over the top of the menu. “I was planning to get the burrito, I heard it’s great.”

David hates how charmed he is by Patrick’s antics. “Okay, no, first of all I know you know it’s terrible, and secondly a burrito is not a sandwich.”

Patrick twists his face into over-the-top confusion. “Hmm, it’s a filling surrounded by bread. Seems like a sandwich to me.”

David purses his lips and reminds himself that Patrick is doing this to get a rise out of him, but he can’t help himself. “A tortilla is not bread!”

Patrick tilts his head. “Sure, when we’re talking eggs, but I’m pretty sure these burritos will come in a flour tortilla, which is a kind of flatbread.”

“You know what, I’m just trying to save you from yourself here. It’s not my problem if you want to take the joke too far and actually order it.” 

He loves the moment Patrick realises David’s called his bluff. His eyes spark and he grins wide.

“Hmm, maybe I will need a bit more guidance from you after all,” Patrick says, giving in. 

Before, David wouldn’t have thought that Patrick was someone who would be willing to cede victory that way. It’s good to know he won’t take a joke too far, just for the sake of ‘winning’.

Patrick ends up getting the cheeseburger, same as David. He suggests they share an order of fries and David informs him that no, he will be getting his own portion. He’s never actually been on a date where he wasn’t more concerned about looking good than eating what he wanted and it feels… nice. Any moment of fear Patrick would judge him for it is quickly quelled by how _charmed_ he looks.

It’s strange but, despite such a long period of mostly communicating by text and phone, David has really missed talking to Patrick in person over the last week. There’s an appeal to writing something down, having the time to craft your words and not worry about seeing the reaction, but a week of having Patrick right there made him greedy for those curved lips and expressive eyes.

Eventually, Patrick talks a bit more about his week, how he’s basically spent the whole time (between store things) working on his move.

“I can’t believe you actually did that!”

Patrick shrugs. “I realised the things keeping me there weren’t nearly as important to me right now.” His eyes are wide and sincere and David has to look away.

“But your family! Sunday Family Lunch!” David does his best to pronounce the capital letters.

“I can still talk to my family; I’ve already promised my mom I’ll FaceTime her at least once a week. And I… kind of feel like I need a break from Sunday Family Lunch for a while.”

David nods and tries not to feel nervous. Patrick didn’t do this for David, he did it for the store. And hopefully for himself. “What about all those cousins more like siblings?” He has to ask. The phrase has stuck with him all day, the idea of having that sort of extended family so alien to David. 

Patrick smiles slightly sadly. “They’ll manage. I did actually talk to Caitlin, the one I told you about?”

“I thought you weren’t going to give me her name,” David says with a smirk.

Patrick rolls his eyes. “She gave me permission. I talked to her about that, apologised for telling someone she didn’t say I could.”

“Very generous of her. So, you…” It’s silly that David doesn’t want to say ‘came out to her’, but Patrick’s sexuality is something they’ve only covered in text messages. He doesn’t know if it’s something for him to be saying out loud in their real lives.

“I came out to her.” Patrick looks proud of himself for saying it, which makes something in David ache for him. He’s changing his whole life and seeing him own it reminds David how much he likes him.

“That’s great. You really went for that, huh?” David worries for a second Patrick will take it as a criticism, but he smiles.

“I feel like…” Patrick’s face goes more serious and David waits for him to find the words. “It would have been easy for me to leave without saying it and that wouldn’t have been a bad thing, if that’s what I needed. But I know that the longer I let it go the easier it would be to just… not. And I didn’t want to give myself a chance to do that.”

David can’t help himself, he has to reach across and grab Patrick’s hands. “You are kind of amazing, Patrick Brewer,” he says, not even trying to hold it back.

“Just kind of?” Patrick teases, but he squeezes David’s hands in a way that says he’s touched.

***

David makes a show of trying to pay for dinner, just so he can enjoy Patrick not letting him do it. 

“Hey, I invited you out, I’ll pay.”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure Stevie’s the one who invited me out,” David can’t help but point out.

“Yeah, well she’s not here and it’s your birthday. Let me do this.” There’s a little bit of steel in Patrick’s voice that sends a jolt up David’s spine. He’s tried not to get too caught up in how good Patrick looks, but David is so far gone, it’s ridiculous. 

Patrick offers to drop him off at the motel and the drive back is comfortably quiet. When they get there, David doesn’t want to get out right away.

“Well, that was a fun night.”

Patrick looks at him seriously. “I am so glad I didn’t tell you that you had the wrong number the very first time you called me.”

“That is a really lovely thing to say.”

“And I’m so glad, too, Patrick, because otherwise you might never have invested in my business and helped make it the success it is today,” Patrick teases.

“Mm, a bold claim,” David replies, and all the feelings he has for Patrick come surging up in him. He is so very fond of him, so attracted to him, and he’s sure now that Patrick feels it, too. He’s just about to lean forward when Patrick beats him to it and they’re kissing.

It feels so inevitable, and so, so _right_ to be kissing Patrick, in a way he could never have prepared himself for. They have barely any points of connection and yet David feels it in his whole body. He has kissed so many people, but such a chaste meeting of mouths has never felt like lightning zipping through his whole body before. 

David gets his hand at the back of Patrick’s head and revels in holding him there—his face fits so perfectly in David’s hand, like it belongs there. It’s not a long kiss, but it’s a real one, not just a peck of the lips. Patrick’s mouth is so soft, feels so good, and he lets out a little sigh against David’s lips that he’s going to treasure for a long time. 

When they break apart, it’s a moment before anyone speaks. David’s heart is pounding with excitement, but he still can’t help wondering what his face is doing, what Patrick thought of that.

“Thank you,” Patrick says.

“For what?”

“I’ve never done that before, with a guy.”

“Okay,” David says, and he knows he shouldn’t be surprised—there were implications—but he’s kind of amazed that Patrick had managed to come out to his whole family without having experienced even a kiss with a man.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do that, but after everything you’ve helped me with and talking to you for so long, I knew I could. So thank you for making me feel brave.”

It takes a while for David to have any idea how to respond to that. Patrick’s ability to state his feelings so clearly floors him every time and his only defence is teasing. “Well, fortunately, I’m a very generous person, so…”

Patrick’s smile is too small to be this overwhelming. “Can we talk tomorrow?” He asks.

David’s probably nodding a few too many times. “We can talk whenever you’d like.” He pauses, “Although, I feel like I should warn you I’m not sure I actually wake up until an hour after I open the store; I’ve gotten very good at sleeping with my eyes open this week.”

“Mmhm,” Patrick says, and David loves the expression on his face, the one that means he has an idea and David’s going to like it. “Well, how about I open the store tomorrow, then you can come in whenever you’re ready and we’ll talk.”

It’s hard not to react to that offer by jumping straight into Patrick’s lap and going for something a bit advanced for Patrick’s second ever kiss with a man. “I would be amenable to that,” he says instead and leaves the car before he can give in to that urge.

They say good night and David feels like he’s walking on air when he enters the room he shares with his sister. Which is maybe why he is quite so blind-sided by Alexis presenting him with an objectively terrible ‘gift’ of dandelions in a glass soda bottle, which he will cherish. It’s followed up by his parents bringing an objectively even worse cake and song, which… he will at least eat the cake.

If he’s allowing himself to be honest, which is apparently something he does now, much as he's annoyed that his parents take even this chance to make everything about them, he’s still touched by the gesture. It’s a step in the right direction, if nothing else.

He takes a picture of the cake, knowing that Patrick will get a kick out of the “Happy Day Alex & Davis” icing. He sends it before he can tell himself he’s supposed to make him wait, that they said they’d talk tomorrow.

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 10:09PM [](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ee1b6f04f0a790f458e76ca5ed7cf41d/b1b81ce25059cde5-68/s2048x3072/1286e2370fec09af5ddeacfbc08791b253aac73f.png)  
**David:** I guess they didn’t completely forget about it.   
  
**Patrick:** Well would you look at that!  
  
**David:** Thank you for a lovely evening.  
  
**Patrick:** Happy Birthday, Davis.  
  
**David:** Nope, we’re not doing that  
  
**Patrick:** Fine.  
  
**Patrick:** Good night, David x  
  


David has gone on many rants about people who end text messages with kisses. How it’s manipulative and tacky and just not right. It feels like jumping off a cliff to reply: 

**iMessage:** Patrick  
  
**Fri Jul 2** 10:11PM **David:** Good night Patrick x  
  



	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Patrick's starts to experience a new normal.

Patrick is so full of energy that he barely sleeps the night after his first date with David. He likes thinking of it that way— _first_ date—because it means there will be more. Ray had given Patrick a folder full of things to do in the area as part of an extensive welcome that ended up making him fifteen minutes late to meet David. Part of him wants to use this energy to unpack, but he doesn’t want to wake Ray, so he looks through the folder instead. When he gets to the page with a hiking trail he feels a surge of relief, before wondering where exactly he packed his hiking boots.

It’s been quite a while since Patrick went on a hike. Somehow, between work, and life, and feeling so exhausted all the time, it had fallen by the wayside. It’s barely after five in the morning when he sets off on the trail. As he follows the path through the forest he can’t quite believe he let go of this. He’s still thinking about David, about where they’ll go from here, but out here it feels a lot more like excitement than it does nerves.

When Patrick reaches a rocky outcrop with a gorgeous view he sits for a while. He takes a picture and decides to send it to his parents. Staying with his parents for just under a week had really driven home just how stifled he’d felt by his whole life in Kitchener. As accepting and kind as his parents are, he’s been constantly on high alert since coming out to them. A part of him had spent all week assuming they’d been watching—like surely they were trying to notice something ‘gay’ about him. The longer it had gone without them saying something about it, the more high-strung he’d felt. It had been a tension that only released once he got in his car to move away.

It’s not fair. They’d responded better than he could have hoped, and yet he’s _so_ glad to have the space now to figure out who he is away from the life he’s always known. They’d been a little shocked by his sudden move yesterday—he’d told them he was expecting to stay at least another week—but after last night, there’s no way he can regret the choice.

Patrick had been so scared he was going to let the date last night end without making it absolutely, definitively clear that it _was_ a date. He nearly did, but then he’d looked at David and felt such a swell of affection for him—for how he has supported Patrick and opened his life to him— that he allowed himself to lean in. He hasn’t had a lot of practice being brave this way, until recently, but there’s something intoxicating about it. 

He never could have come out the way he had if he hadn’t been _sure_ he’s gay, but nothing could have prepared him for the weight that was lifted off his shoulders with a kiss from David. Finally, _finally,_ he’d experienced a first kiss that felt the way people had always said they did. Their kiss had been brief, but it felt more right than any he’d had before. 

Before, there had been a part of Patrick, even with all his certainty, that still felt he was probably being silly. A part that told him that he was wrong and greedy to want more from a kiss than he’d gotten in the past, that he was making up the problem. Now, that part of himself is blissfully quiet, because he has proof it is wrong.

Patrick sits looking out on the cliff and doesn’t shy away from his own feelings. Instead, he indulges himself in a way he is still new to: by reliving a positive memory, instead of obsessing over a failure. Thinking about David makes his heart race with excitement and nerves, makes his skin tingle with a sort of tangible desire that is hard for Patrick to wrap his head around. There’s a sexual element, but that feels so secondary to just… wanting to be where David is, to be in his space, to be as close to him as possible. 

These feelings are so extreme for someone he’s only had one date with, and yet they don’t fill Patrick with dread, but with anticipation. David had kissed him back. David had looked at him with desire in his eyes and it wasn’t just Patrick’s imagination; it was real.

He really hadn’t intended to go to the cafe yesterday, when he suggested Stevie set up the meal. But when she’d asked him _Why am I the one taking him to dinner and not you?_ he hadn’t had a good answer. Over the last week he’d done the most important things needed to prepare for moving; the only thing holding him back was nerves. He’s so glad he made the jump.

He remembers his sudden urge to go hiking while at Stevie’s a couple of weeks ago and laughs. Looking back at it sober, obviously Stevie had been teasing David when she joined in the hike talk, but he sent her a picture of the view anyway.

**iMessage:** Stevie Budd  
  
**Sat Jul 3** 7:04AM [](https://64.media.tumblr.com/9cdc48c47ab2d9dfaef50b1dcc0f4fbf/b1b81ce25059cde5-72/s1280x1920/63f285150c0998c4bb47eeb1f9890aae26518ec0.png)  
**Patrick Brewer:** Had to find a hiking route without you.  
  
**Stevie Budd:** Ew what are you even doing up there so early  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Needed a place to think.  
  
**Stevie Budd:** Does that mean last night went well or badly?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I feel like I should let David answer that for you  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** But I think it went well  
  
**Stevie Budd:** How well? 😏  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Oh look at the time, I should get back so I can open the store.  
  


Patrick grins as he puts his phone away. When he’d sent Stevie a message yesterday saying she should ask David to dinner because it was his birthday he hadn’t expected the back and forth that lead to him deciding, _fuck it_ , and going to be there himself. She’d been blunt in a way that was just what he’d needed. 

***

“There you are, Patrick! I was worried when I saw you weren’t in your room.”

Patrick wants to ask why exactly Ray was looking in his room, but he also really needs a shower and doesn’t have time for that conversation right now. “Decided I wanted to get an early morning hike in—I used the route from your folder.”

Ray looks somehow even happier than he already had. “I am so pleased you liked it! I am actually considering setting up a local tourism centre, that was just my prototype.”

Patrick nods. “That sounds great, Ray. Going to have a shower now!” 

He darts up the stairs before Ray can start another conversation, but he hears Ray’s voice calling, “I hope you’re hungry, breakfast will be served in fifteen minutes!”

Patrick _is_ hungry now he thinks about it, so he showers and gets dressed quickly. Breakfast is delicious and Ray seems like a really nice guy. It’s funny to think that it’s thanks to his ambiguous handwriting Patrick is even here in the first place, but that’s not something he’s going to share just yet. He hadn’t even finished helping Ray check out on Rose Apothecary’s opening day before it became clear he’s kind of a gossip. It had been useful, though, as he’d managed to offer to let Patrick rent his spare room, should he decide he wanted to move closer to the business, in a conversation that lasted just a couple of minutes.

It feels good to get to the store and see the little tweaks that David has made over the week since Patrick was last here. He goes through the daily morning checklist they have, slowly to make sure it’s all done to David’s standards, and thinks about how this is his life now. Quiet mornings opening the store; waiting for David to arrive, maybe even greeting him with a kiss.

Just before opening he gets a message from Stevie.

**iMessage:** Stevie Budd  
  
**Sat Jul 3** 8:51AM **Stevie Budd:** Do you know anything about getting rid of dead bodies?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** … no?  
  
**Stevie Budd:** Ugh  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Why?  
  
**Stevie Budd:** No reason, have a great day! 🙃  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Well this isn’t worrying at all.  
  


***

If he wasn’t so caught up in everything David, he might have put two and two together sooner about David asking to stay with him, but he’s totally blindsided. The day is a bit of a whirlwind, dealing with David’s mother and the miscommunication, but when they figure it all out he gets to kiss David, and tease him, and _that_ feels incredible. 

The first time Patrick holds David in his arms is as much of a revelation as every other first with David has been. They are standing in their store, joking with each other, and Patrick has his arms around another man. This is the life that he gets to have from now on and it is overwhelming in the very best way.

***

**iMessage:** Caitlin Brewer  
  
**Sat Jul 3** 5:48PM **Patrick Brewer:** So I took David on a date yesterday  
  
**Caitlin Brewer:** Wait are you in Schitt’s Creek already?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Yeah sorry, I meant to let you know before I left, but then I found out it was David’s birthday yesterday and moved up my plans.  
  
**Caitlin Brewer:** omg so you took him out for his birthday? That is so romantic 🥰uwu🥰  
  
**Caitlin Brewer:** Where did you take him? How did it goooooo???  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I took him to the cafe which is the only restaurant in town, but it went pretty well, yeah.  
  
**Caitlin Brewer:** There’s only 1 restaurant? Yikes I hope it’s good!  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** It’s at least moderately edible.  
  
**Caitlin Brewer:** Gross  
  
**Caitlin Brewer:** Have you talked to him since? Plz tell me you aren’t doing that ‘wait 48 hours before contact’ bs  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** We literally own a business together so that wouldn’t really work.   
  
**Patrick Brewer:** So yes, we spent most of the day together.  
  
**Caitlin Brewer:** This is so cute I’m so proud of youuuu!!  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Well I’m pretty damn proud of you, too.  
  


***

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sat Jul 3** 10:17PM **Patrick Brewer:** Can I call you?  
  
**David Rose:** Is something wrong?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** No, I just wanted to hear your voice.  
  
**David Rose:** That is incredibly sweet, but I am currently sharing the extra bed in my parent’s room with Alexis so don’t really have privacy for a conversation  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** That sounds adorable.  
  
**David Rose:** Ew, it definitely isn’t  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** We can agree to disagree.  
  
**David Rose:** I hate that phrase, that’s just a way of saying “I’m right and you’re wrong and I’m pretending I’m being the bigger person about it”  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** We can agree to disagree about the phrase ‘agree to disagree’.  
  
**David Rose:** We can agree you’re an asshole  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** We can agree that you like it that way.  
  
**David Rose:** Maybe  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Alexis sent me a picture, it’s definitely adorable.  
  
**David Rose:** When did she even get your number? Delete that picture immediately  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Can delete mean ‘save to my favourites’?  
  
**David Rose:** Ugh  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Goodnight, David x  
  
**David Rose:** Goodnight Patrick x  
  


***

Patrick wants to take things slow, but he wasn’t prepared for what a rush it would be to spend so much time in David’s presence. He uses every opportunity he has to brush against him, touch his shoulder as he goes past, drop a kiss on his cheek. He’s also not prepared for how, after a few days of this, when they’re both in the storeroom and he’s squeezing a bit closer than required, David grabs him and _kisses_ him. 

They’ve kissed every day, even got together on Monday when the store was closed to ‘strategise business plans’ and share some long, lazy kisses that flooded Patrick’s body with heat. This is different. David’s tongue is in his mouth, his long body pressed all the way against Patrick’s, and within seconds they are fully making out. Patrick grips David’s shoulders hard—some part of him aware he shouldn’t stretch the fabric—and gives himself over to it.

David has one big, gorgeous hand holding him in place, which he uses to tilt Patrick’s head so David can kiss around his jaw to behind his ear. Patrick makes a noise he didn’t know he could, overwhelmed by the way the sensation zips through his entire body. David immediately freezes and there’s a few seconds of silence before he pushes himself back, nearly toppling some boxes.

“Sorry, sorry, I know we’re going slow, I didn’t mean to, like, maul you,” David says, looking everywhere but at Patrick.

Patrick shakes his head and grabs David’s fingers, that he had been twisting together. “Hey, look at me, please?” He waits until they have eye contact. “That was incredibly hot and I’m pretty sure slow can include some making out.”

“Yeah?” David asks, and it strikes Patrick sometimes just how uncertain he is, too, despite all his experience.

“Definitely.”

“Well, okay then,” David says, his sexy, confident smirk suddenly back on display. He moves in again, slowly pressing Patrick against the wall and kisses him gently before moving back around to Patrick’s ear. The scrape of his stubble is possibly the best thing Patrick’s ever felt. “The way you keep touching me is kind of driving me crazy, Patrick,” David whispers into his ear, and Patrick has never in his life felt lust like this before.

He pulls David's face to him and nips at his lip before licking into his mouth. David makes a noise in the back of his throat that Patrick wants to taste a thousand times and it’s hard to know where to focus. David’s gorgeous mouth is working against his and Patrick slides one hand down to get under his sweater. He’s getting hard so fast, didn’t know he could respond like this, and then the bell rings.

David is quick to put himself together and go talk to the customer and Patrick doesn’t take much longer, but from that point on it’s like a dam has broken. If before he was touching David any time he could just to revel in _being able to,_ now it’s also because he knows it’s affecting both of them. It’s a new form of teasing David, and Patrick’s giddy with it.

***

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sat Jul 10** 11:06PM **David Rose:** You make it very hard to go slow  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Hard, eh?  
  
**David Rose:** Okay nope! No puns, especially no sex puns  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** But it was right there.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** You should tell me more about what you were saying.  
  
**David Rose:** See but right now I don’t remember why I was even struggling  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I thought it might have something to do with how earlier today you kept nearly grabbing my ass and stopping yourself  
  
**David Rose:** You noticed that?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** God yes, I was really hoping you’d do it.  
  
**David Rose:** You could have asked me  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I didn’t want to push you  
  
**David Rose:** You’re the one who wanted slow, I’m just following your lead  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Sometimes it’s hard for me to say what I want out loud  
  
**David Rose:** Well you could always text me  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** David? I want you to grab my ass.  
  
**David Rose:** I will make a note of that  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** We can add it to tomorrow’s to do list  
  
**David Rose:** Anything else you’ve been holding back  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Just that you are incredibly fucking sexy  
  
**David Rose:** I admit I had managed to suspect you might think that  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Dang, I thought I was playing it cool, what with the way I get my hands on you at any opportunity  
  
**David Rose:** Mm, you forgot how good I am at reading subtle signs like that  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I want slow, but I also really want to get you shirtless  
  
**David Rose:** That might not live up to your expectations  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** What?  
  
**David Rose:** Just, I don’t know what you’re imagining you’ll see under there, but it’s probably better than the reality  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** David, the reality is you. There is no point at which my imagination has managed to live up to that  
  
**David Rose:** Well that is a very nice thing to say  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** It’s not just a nice thing to say, I mean it. I’ve had my hands on your skin, I’ve felt you through our clothes, and I want to see you.  
  
**David Rose:** Maybe we can make that happen.  
  


***

They attempt shirtless make-outs at Patrick’s place, except Ray walks in before they even get David’s undershirt off. Even after Patrick manages to get a promise out of Ray to knock from now on, David doesn’t feel comfortable taking off any more clothes. They still get in a bit of horizontal kissing, which is new and exhilarating, but then Ray informs them he’s made hot pockets, so that’s it for the night. Ray’s version of knocking doesn’t seem to involve actually waiting for permission to enter, so it’s probably for the best. 

Patrick doesn’t understand how David can feel so self conscious about his body, but the more he thinks about it the more sense it makes. Patrick has spent plenty of time in his life in changing rooms with naked men of all shapes and sizes. He’d learned very young to never look, but he still knew that plenty of physically fit guys had bigger love handles than he did and so Patrick didn’t really have much self consciousness about his body.

David, however, had spent his life having sex with men like Sebastien Raine, who took one look at Patrick and declared him sub-par. There had been enough references to pills of various sorts for Patrick to pick up that David’s relationship with looking after his body probably hadn’t exactly been healthy. But it probably also meant the people he’d spent time with were toned in that way people got when the thing they most cared about was looking hot—or more likely, the narrow definition of _hot_ they subscribed to.

Lying awake that night, Patrick, for the first time, seriously considers googling David. He wants to see how he measures up against his previous partners. That’s the point where he realises this spiral needs to stop. He does the same thing he’s been doing for months now, when he needs to get out of his head.

The message is way more honest than he really wants to be, but he types it out and hits send before he can consider that.

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Mon Jul 12** 10:43PM **Patrick Brewer:** I hope you aren’t disappointed by my body.  
  
**David Rose:** Of course not!  
  
**David Rose:** Why would you say that?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I know I don’t look like some of the people you’ve been with. Sebastien said I wasn’t up to your standards.  
  
**David Rose:** I was hoping you’d forgotten that  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** It’s not something I’ve been obsessing over or anything, I just kind of got stuck on it today.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Sorry, shouldn’t have dumped my insecurity on you over text.  
  
**David Rose:** Um I’m pretty sure I dumped some very similar insecurity on you yesterday?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Yeah but I don’t mind when you do it.  
  
**David Rose:** I want you to tell me things. I’m sorry if I’ve made you think I find you anything other than incredibly sexy  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Thank you.  
  
**David Rose:** Trust me when I say I have zero desire to ever have sex with Sebastien ever again  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** There is something about him I should probably tell you.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** It’s not something I meant to do, but it’s probably not right that I haven’t told you about it.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** But I overheard you with Sebastien that first night I spent at the motel.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I didn’t listen on purpose but I didn’t do anything to stop hearing it either.  
  
**David Rose:** Oh thank god  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** What?  
  
**David Rose:** I mean, I’m not that happy about that, but it sounded like you were about to say you’d fucked him!  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** When would I have done that?  
  
**David Rose:** I don't know, I wasn't exactly feeling logical!  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I told you, David, you’re the only guy I’ve ever kissed.  
  
**David Rose:** You don’t need to kiss to have sex  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** You might not need to, but I do.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Sorry, that came out wrong, I’m not judging you  
  
**David Rose:** Seemed like you kind of were  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I was being defensive and shitty, I really don’t care what sort of sex you’ve had with what people  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Or, I care that it seems like you had some bad experiences and I care about you, but it doesn’t impact how much I like you  
  
**David Rose:** That’s a really nice thing to say, but I’d rather you just never think about any of that.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** It’s part of caring about you  
  
**David Rose:** How much did you overhear with Sebastien?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Just, you know, noises. No specifics, but I recognised your voice.  
  
**David Rose:** Right  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I really don’t judge you for it, god knows I’ve fallen back into bed with Rachel a dozen times when we were broken up over the years.  
  
**David Rose:** You have?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I mean, it’s not going to happen again, but yes. I understand how that can happen, there’s comfort in the familiar.  
  
**David Rose:** Sure  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I wish we were having this conversation in person so I could touch you.  
  
**David Rose:** I’m not sure I could have coped with having this conversation in person  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Are you pissed that I didn’t tell you earlier?  
  
**David Rose:** Kind of, but I also can’t think of a time you could have told me that without completely freaking me out. No way would I have believed you wanted to date me  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Why would that make me not want to date you?  
  
**David Rose:** The guy was a complete dick to you  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’m going to be completely honest with you here, David. My main takeaway from overhearing that was how incredibly hot you sounded, that kind of distracted me from having any other thoughts.  
  
**David Rose:** Oh  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** You know when you asked me about sexual awakenings? Yeah.  
  
**David Rose:** That’s very flattering  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I understand if you think I’m a total creep  
  
**David Rose:** You’re definitely not a total creep. You are a completely manageable level of creep.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Thanks  
  
**David Rose:** Seriously though, if I had half a brain I’d have realised you might hear, it’s not like I didn’t know where your room was  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** That’s okay, you sounded pretty distracted.  
  
**David Rose:** Patrick Brewer!  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Too soon?  
  
**David Rose:** If you’d gone any longer without teasing me I’d have worried you were replaced by a pod person  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I could lay off if you’d rather.  
  
**David Rose:** Please never even suggest such a thing  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I’ll bear that in mind.  
  
**David Rose:** Knowing you heard that is still kind of embarrassing, though…  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** And?  
  
**David Rose:** Obviously going to need you to share, you know the terms of your probation  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I thought I was done serving my time.  
  
**David Rose:** And yet here we are  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Fine.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Yesterday I got so distracted watching you bend over to restock the candles I nearly charged Twyla double.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** She was so nice about it, I didn’t even notice until I was counting out her change!  
  
**David Rose:** I’m not sure that’s embarrassing enough, but it’s flattering so I’ll take it  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Thank you for your leniency.  
  
**David Rose:** Alexis is complaining about the light from my phone so I should go to sleep  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Goodnight, David x  
  
**David Rose:** Goodnight Patrick x  
  


***

Patrick’s a bit worried the next morning until David comes in and things are fine. They’re actually better than fine; they’re _too_ good. David seems to have taken Patrick’s moment of insecurity that led to their whole conversation as a reason to start talking about how sexy he finds him every time they get a moment alone together, which Patrick volleys right back with compliments of his own. It becomes a bit of a game between them. 

“Your shoulders look amazing in that sweater.”

“I can’t stop thinking about your forearms today.”

“Your mouth is so hot.”

“When you bent over the counter earlier I wanted to sink my teeth into your ass.”

Which doesn’t help their growing need for privacy, but it does lead to some incredible making out in the store room.

***

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Wed Jul 14** 8:26PM **Patrick Brewer:** You looked really good today.  
  
**David Rose:** Patrick  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** What?  
  
**David Rose:** Alexis and my mother are in the room with me, you can’t just send me me messages like that  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** So you don’t want me to tell you you look good?  
  
**David Rose:** Of course I do! I am just… struggling with our lack of alone time enough that maybe you shouldn’t, as it causes a… response I do not wish to have with my family here  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** So you’re telling me you’re so horny that even an innocuous compliment is enough to get you hard?  
  
**David Rose:** Patrick!  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Sorry! I just wanted to check I understood correctly.  
  
**David Rose:** … you have  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Wow  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** That is… wow  
  
**David Rose:** Seriously, if you don’t change the subject I’m going to need to turn off my phone  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Don’t do that, I want to talk to you.  
  
**David Rose:** We just spent all day together at the store  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Is it weird that texting you feels different, though? I like that we still do it, even though I see you in person now.  
  
**David Rose:** I might be able to relate to that feeling  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Oh might you? Very generous.  
  
**David Rose:** Fine! I like that we still text, too. It’s how I got to know you  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Except you saying things like that makes me wish that we were talking in person so I could kiss you.  
  
**David Rose:** Shh! I told you to stop that  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Sorry.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Um  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** How about the weather we’ve been having?  
  
**David Rose:** I would rather listen to Alexis explain what a meme is to my mother than talk about the weather  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** But it’s been so sunny and I heard we might hit a high for the year next week!  
  
**David Rose:** This sounds like a perfect conversation for you to have with Ray  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I may have been quoting him.  
  
**David Rose:** Ew  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** You know what I just realised?  
  
**David Rose:** That quoting Ray is a great way to end a conversation with me?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I still don’t know who you were supposed to call.  
  
**David Rose:** You mean which vendor? I had to call Heather about the cheese, but she’s still not budging  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Damn, I thought she’d be interested in exclusivity.  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** But I actually meant that first day you called me.  
  
**David Rose:** How has it never occurred to me to wonder that?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Maybe you were just really happy with your mistake.  
  
**David Rose:** Would we call it my mistake? Ray’s the one with the awful handwriting  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** I could ask him whose number he gives out for small business stuff?  
  
**David Rose:** No wait, I think I still have the piece of paper somewhere  
  
[](https://64.media.tumblr.com/0b302ca7ba30012f4cb80e647b6048e8/eacc920525d6e072-11/s2048x3072/e03b18d92f38749831ad9ff743f3dde826366148.jpg)  
**Patrick Brewer:** Okay I think that’s a 1 but you dialed a 7?  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Google says the number belongs to a contractor called Ronnie Lee?  
  
**David Rose:** She’s the one who told me to go to Ray in the first place!  
  
**Patrick Brewer:** Well, in that case she’s my new best friend.  
  


***

Stevie turns out to be their saviour a few days later, when she offers them her apartment for the night. Of course, it gets off to a rocky start when it turns out her apartment is free because she’s going camping with David’s ex that she’s apparently been seeing in secret. David’s stupidly attractive ex, who apparently still feels totally free to kiss him hello on the mouth. 

Once they leave, Patrick and David have some whiskey and David explains. They’d referenced the throuple situation back at the Wobbly Elm, the first time Patrick was in town, but at the time he hadn’t really taken it very seriously. It’s a different thing to have it turn up right in front of him when he’s already kind of anxious.

So David explains and Patrick can’t help but notice he seems really bothered by the whole thing and he’s going to ask him to explain it all again, but then Patrick remembers the conversation he had with David after he broke up with Rachel. David had said he’d learned about Stevie’s last break up without even knowing about the relationship; he’d sounded kind of hurt about it.

“I thought you found out about Stevie’s last relationship after the fact?”

David purses his lips the way he does when something’s really getting to him. “Well, that was her explanation for having two toothbrushes here when I stayed over during the whole lice catastrophe, but I guess that was just a lie!”

It jolts Patrick's insecurity just enough for him to realise that David’s probably not jealous romantically, he’s upset that Stevie was keeping something from him. All of his weirdness around Stevie today suddenly makes a lot more sense and Patrick feels like kind of a dick for being pissy about it.

He moves in for a kiss. David is obviously surprised, but it doesn’t take him long to get with the program and kiss back enthusiastically.

“Wait, are we good now?” David pulls back and says, before his eyes widen and he adds, “You know what, pretend I didn’t even ask, we can just keep kissing.”

Patrick smiles, but dodges David’s mouth. “I do want to know about your history, but I’m not sure being graced by the presence of your exes was how I expected that to happen.”

“Funny thing, I wasn’t exactly expecting that either.”

Patrick kisses him gently. “I know that you’re upset about Stevie keeping this from you and that’s okay.”

“It’s just the principle of the thing!” David insists.

“Whatever it is, I think I just get kind of worried sometimes. You know a lot about my history and I don’t really know that much about yours.”

“Do I really know that much? You only told me the other day that you and Rachel apparently broke up and got back together a dozen times over the years.”

Patrick winces slightly, when he’d sent that text he hadn’t thought about how that reveal might have played on David’s insecurities. “Yes, we did. If you want to talk about it I can, but it’s not going to happen again.”

David tucks his smile into the corner of his mouth. “Telling her you’re gay is probably a pretty definitive break up move. Did you… date any other women in between?”

“A few, here and there. I wasn’t great at giving myself time to think about what I wanted, so if someone seemed interested I’d jump right in.” Patrick realises the mistake in putting it that way when he sees David’s face blanche. “This isn’t like that, I promise.” He grips David’s hands tightly.

“How can you know that?”

Patrick takes a deep breath and tries to say this right. “I wasn’t sure if you were interested in me, David. I hoped so, but what I was sure of is that I was—I _am_ —interested in you. This isn’t a rebound; I’m not trying to recreate what I had before just because of loneliness. I want to build something new with you and I don’t want to have to wait some arbitrary time since the official end of my last relationship to do it.”

“Oh.” David looks a little shocked, but Patrick can’t tell if it’s the good sort of shock or not.

“If that’s too much too soon, or if you need time, please tell me. But I didn’t even know I was waiting for you and I don’t want to wait any longer if I don’t have to.”

David’s eyes flash and he pulls Patrick into a fierce kiss. Patrick falls into it like his strings have been cut. He’s known he needed to address this in the few short weeks they’ve been dating, but he couldn’t bring himself to start.

When they pull apart, David’s looking at him with fond eyes and Patrick can’t help but say, “See, you definitely know more about my relationship history now.”

David gasps and flails his hand, just like Patrick was hoping. “Okay, you have literally met _three_ of my exes!”

Patrick shrugs. “That’s a fair point, but seeing hot guys all over you is kind of different to you emotionally supporting me through my way-too-late break up.”

David’s mouth flattens out and he takes a deep breath. “What you are calling ‘hot guys all over me’ is—to me—being negged by a complete asshole and having a totally unwanted kiss from a guy who my best friend has apparently been seeing for months without telling me!”

Patrick winces and he grabs one of David’s hands. “You’re right; I’m sorry. I just worry I’m not going to live up to what you’re used to.”

David shakes his head. “Patrick, you’ve already blown everyone else out of the water. I told you, I’ve _never_ cared about anyone I’ve been with, the way I do with you.”

“Even Stevie?” Patrick doesn’t really want to ask, feels silly when Stevie had helped him orchestrate their first date, but the connection between her and David is obviously something special.

David’s silent for a little while. “What happened between me and Stevie was a long time ago and it was messy. I did care about her—I _do_ care about her—but… not in the same way. That’s why that thing with Jake was such a big no; there is _nothing_ romantic or sexual between us anymore.”

Patrick brings David’s hand up to his mouth and kisses it gently. “Thank you for explaining that to me.”

David waves his free hand as if to say, ‘it was nothing’. 

“Ugh, if we’re doing this emotional sharing thing, there’s something else I feel like I should tell you.”

“If you don’t want to you really don’t have to, David.”

“See, you saying that makes it even worse, but I’ve spent kind of a lot of time the past few days catastrophising that you’ll find this out and decide you’re disgusted by me and so... Much as I want to stop talking so we can finally enjoy having some privacy, I think I have to get this out.”

Patrick can feel the tension from earlier returning, but does his best to push that away. “What is it?”

David tries to pull his hand back, but Patrick keeps hold. “So, when I was with Sebastien, when you were here…” David starts, before scrunching his eyes closed. “He took a load of pictures of my mom without her consent to make fun of her; I slept with him so I could steal the memory card from his camera to destroy any evidence of them.” He says it fast and keeps his eyes averted from Patrick’s when he opens them.

“David. Look at me, please.” Patrick asks. Sure, he doesn’t like the thought that David felt he had to do that, but what’s far worse is the way he is drawn in on himself, clearly expecting the worst. “Of course I won’t break up with you because of that.”

David looks shocked. “Really?”

Patrick really lets himself take a moment to consider it, so David knows he’s not just saying this. David used his body to manipulate his dickhead ex and there is nothing in Patrick that can bear him any ill-will for doing so, especially for the reason he did. He does his best to let his sincerity shine through. “I’m not going to judge you for looking after your mother, or for using sex to do it.”

“That sounds really wrong,” David replies, amusement and relief in his eyes.

“Way to ruin the moment, David,” Patrick says, but then he moves in to kiss David properly, the way that he’s been dying to do in a place with privacy for so long.

David hums a gorgeous noise into Patrick’s mouth, but then he pulls back. “You promise you won’t realise you find me gross as soon as you’re not so turned on?”

Patrick squeezes David’s hand, which he’s still holding. “I promise, David. I don’t find you gross at all and it’s not just because you make me horny pretty much constantly.”

David’s mouth tucks into a smirk that makes Patrick’s heart pound with the force of how much he likes this man. “Pretty much constantly, huh?”

Patrick huffs and kisses David quickly, before saying, “Can we please make out now? You can tease me more later.”

David lifts his hand to Patrick’s head and finally, _finally_ gives himself over to Patrick’s mouth.

It moves quickly from there and before long they are finally lying down on the bed side-by side with their shirts off. Being skin to skin with David feels good in a way that Patrick has never experienced before. “David, you’re so fucking hot.”

David’s nails dig into Patrick’s shoulder where he’s gripping him, making Patrick groan and thrust his hips. He’s hard already, knows soon he’ll be leaking pre-come, just from some making out and finally getting to touch David’s skin.

David pulls back slightly and Patrick actually whines at the loss. “We don’t have to go any further than this if you don’t want to.”

Patrick blinks, trying to get his brain back to conversation mode, but it’s distracting when David has moved away and Patrick can get a good look at his chest. He’s breathing heavily enough Patrick can see it rising and falling. “What?” He eventually gets out.

“We talked about shirtless make-outs, but we didn’t really talk about anything further, so I wanted to let you know I don’t have any expectations here. I’m happy with just this.”

Patrick drags his eyes up from their exploration of the pattern of David’s chest hair and smirks. “I don’t know, I’m pretty sure you said something the other day about getting your teeth in my ass.”

It is utterly delightful to see David blush. “I am _trying_ to be a gentleman here. Just because I would like to do something doesn’t mean I expect to do it.”

Patrick can’t help himself and darts forward for a kiss. “I don’t have a lot of expectations here, either, David. But,” he takes a deep breath. “I would really love it if I could see you naked and make you come.”

He’s pretty sure he can see a shiver move through David’s body at that and it’s incredibly gratifying.

“I think we can work with that,” David says, twisting his mouth so his dimple shows through and _wow,_ Patrick is seriously completely head-over-heels for this guy.

They go back to kissing and touching, but Patrick finds his arousal ramping back up quickly again. He tries to push it back but then David’s hips grind into his and that’s his _dick_ , hard against Patrick’s, and he has to break their kiss to say, “Please can we get our pants off before I embarrass myself.”

David grins at him and Patrick realises his hair is kind of messed up from Patrick’s hands running through it. He feels so intensely fond, realising that David let him do that.

They tangle a little, undoing each other’s pants, then have to shift to actually be able to have space to remove them. Patrick loves that it’s a little awkward as much as he loves the way that, even as David’s pupils dilate, he still rolls his eyes when he catches sight of Patrick’s multi-pack boxer-briefs. Patrick summons his courage and gets his fingers in David’s waistband. He waits for a nod of permission and then he’s pulling down David’s pants and underwear at the same time.

He doesn’t get much of a chance to look before David’s doing the same to him and then they’re kissing again. If Patrick thought skin-on-skin was intense when they were shirtless it has nothing on this. It’s so intense, too much to take in at once; legs, arms, chest, cock, all pressed against him.

“You feel so good, Patrick,” David says and there’s a growl in his voice that Patrick’s never heard before.

“I’m not going to last,” he admits. Part of him is embarrassed to admit it, but most of him is just overwhelmed by experiencing lust like this.

“Fuck, that’s so hot,” David replies, and then he gets a hand around Patrick, spreading the pre-come he’s been leaking, and only gets a few strokes in before Patrick comes—so intense he feels it through his whole body. David strokes him through the aftershocks, murmuring reassurances about how hot it was, but Patrick still feels somewhat embarrassed and hides his face in David’s neck.

“Sorry that was so fast,” he murmurs into David’s skin. 

David uses his clean hand to pull Patrick into a kiss. “What are you apologising for, that was amazing.”

Patrick smiles and relaxes into the looseness in his body, sinking into a long, slow kiss. After a minute, though David pulls back with a sheepish look. 

“Just need to sort this out,” he says, gesturing to his come-covered hand.

Patrick has a vision of taking that hand and cleaning it with his tongue, just to see David’s reaction. It sends a jolt of arousal through his body that is _just_ on the good side of too much, so soon after coming. He doesn’t do it now, but he stores the idea away for the future. 

He watches David’s body as he gets a packet of wipes and a bottle of lube from his bag and brings them over, using a wipe to clean himself off. David catches the look on his face and says, “What?”

Patrick feels like he’s smiling with his entire body. “Just enjoying getting to look at you.”

David’s dimple peeks out of his cheek and he rolls his eyes. 

Patrick reaches for the bottle of lube and holds it up. “So, what were you thinking for this?”

David does something between a shrug and a shimmy. “Well, that depends on if you had anything in mind?”

A dizzying array of possibilities flash through Patrick’s mind, but he shakes his head. “I just want to make you feel good.”

David kisses him then and Patrick tries to put everything he’s feeling into it; he wants David to know how happy and grateful he is. 

“So, I would be very happy for you to use your hand, or...” David looks away, more visibly shy than Patrick has seen him before, but meets Patrick’s eyes when he continues to speak. “Or I would love to fuck your thighs.”

Patrick almost feels like he could go again, faster than he has since he was a teenager, just from those words. It’s not something he’d even thought of. He’s done it a few times, but he was never a big fan before of sex where it felt like the focus was on his own pleasure. The idea of having it done _to_ him, however, makes him rethink the idea of it being an act that is all about the giver.

“Fuck yes, David,” he replies and they fall back into a frantic kiss. 

Patrick drops the bottle of lube so he can grab David’s hip and gives himself over to the kiss. There’s something so good and new about making out with David while he feels loose and relaxed. Whenever they’ve gotten at all hot and heavy before Patrick’s always been so overwhelmed by arousal, but now that he’s already come he can focus on the details. The feeling of David’s fingers gripping his neck; the friction of their leg hair against each other; the bite of the nails digging into Patrick’s thigh.

Patrick kisses down David’s neck and finds a spot on his collarbone to bite a mark into. He’s almost forgotten what they were going to do, when David says, “If you keep doing that I’m going to come before I get to your thighs. Which is not a problem, if that’s what you want.”

Patrick breaks off, giving the pale mark he has made a gentle kiss goodbye. “No, I want—I, um, want you to fuck my thighs.”

David groans and kisses him again. “I love hearing you say things like that.”

Patrick tries to hold back his smug smile, but he suspects David sees through it. “Well maybe if you get on with it I’ll say some more.”

They find the lube—thankfully still closed—among the sheets and Patrick spreads his legs to let David spread it between them. There is something so deliciously filthy about the action and it’s only when David’s wet hand sneaks up to give him a stroke Patrick realises he’s hard again—still? He doesn’t even know.

Patrick moves David’s hand and lays on his side. “Fuck, David, come on.”

“If you insist,” David replies, his voice is so audibly turned on that it makes Patrick whine. He gets into position and Patrick squeezes his thighs together and maybe this shouldn’t be the hottest thing he’s ever experienced but it absolutely is.

David starts moving incredibly cautiously and Patrick groans, allows himself to say the words that flash into his head. “Come on, David, _fuck_ me,” and then he’s off.

Patrick loves the feeling of David’s larger body behind him, how he’s thrusting so single-mindedly, one hand holding Patrick’s hip in place. David’s cock nudges against Patrick’s balls and he says, “You feel so good, Patrick.”

Patrick’s starts stroking his own cock, slick from the lube David put there. “David, oh god, I _love_ this,” he says and feels so free being able to admit that. “I love you fucking me like this,” he adds, just to hear himself say those words and the way they make David groan. He wishes he could keep talking, saying these filthy, delicious things, but it feels too good for Patrick to keep forming words.

David’s opens his mouth against Patrick’s shoulder and bites there, tightens the grip on Patrick’s hip and comes. It’s all too much for Patrick—he tries to hold back so he can take in the feeling of David’s come spreading over him, as David’s hips keep thrusting, but he can’t help but follow him over the edge.

David cleans him up with one of the wipes and they lie together quietly for a while. It’s an easy quiet, Patrick just on the edge of falling asleep, when David asks, “Was that okay?”

Patrick blinks up at him from where his head was resting on his chest. “Okay? David, that was incredible.”

David tries not to look smug, which always makes Patrick feel deeply proud of himself. “Good.”

They lie together for a long time; not talking much, but just enjoying finally being able to have this. Much as Patrick enjoyed the sex—which is a lot—this might be his favourite part of the night so far. It feels so right, a feeling that is still novel. He’s looking forward to getting used to it. Eventually, however, they have to break apart to clean up properly and get ready for bed. When Patrick plugs in his phone to charge, he receives a message.

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sat Jul 17** 10:01PM **David Rose:** Goodnight Patrick x  
  


He turns to give David a kiss, charmed by how pleased he looks with his phone in his hand, before he sends his reply. 

**iMessage:** David Rose  
  
**Sat Jul 17** 10:02PM **Patrick Brewer:** Goodnight, David x  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Such a huge thank you to everyone who has read this. It is by far the longest piece of fiction I have ever completed and the response to it has meant more than I can possibly express. I hope this ending is enjoyed. <3

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also on [tumblr](https://januarium.tumblr.com/)!


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